The Future, The Past, The Future Again
by Medusa The Ancient Snake
Summary: A young girl, gone back in time - a mutant that has to hide what she is in the 1940's, finds herself in the company of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes and does whatever she can to help them out and to make sure that Steve becomes Captain America one way or another. SR/PCish & BB/OC Please give it a chance and review.
1. I'm in the past with Cap America

This is something that has been rattling around in my brain and am only posting to see if anyone may like what I have done. It'll be a Steve/Peggy partially and a Bucky/OC. I am hoping that I haven't made my OC too Mary Sue, if I have please let me know and I will see what I can do to re-write my character.

Thank you for reading and please Review and let me know what you think.

* * *

The large skyscrapers of New York towered over the 5 foot 5 and a half frame of the young woman walking through the streets, a duffle bag hanging from one shoulder and a big purple handbag on the other on the way to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. She had arrived early so that she could take in the sights of her first visit to New York City and see the sights that are worth it before heading to the base even though her duffle was heavy with her clothes and the people around her, natives and tourists alike, were jostling her as she walked and looked around Time Square.

A thin hand ran through unwashed strawberry blonde hair, she needed a shower on the ASAP and was hoping to high hell that there would be time for her to have one before she got her standing orders and was shipped out further from there or if she was going to be staying in Brooklyn. Heaving a sigh she walked over to the side walk and flagged down a taxi the best she could with having no experience with that sort of thing, since it isn't done like that back home, when a giant explosion tore through the building behind her and scattering everyone as the stone and steel crumble, landing on those unfortunate enough not to move out of the way quickly enough.

Two coloured eyes looked up at a scream, a horrifying metallic scream that was not of this world, and saw giant worm like creatures flying through the city and bodies dropping from them like they were dropping off a tactical drop over the citizens of New York, blue blasts of energy leaving their weapons as they let out war cries.

Cries and screams of the people echoed throughout the streets as many ran and many others disappeared at the blast of the guns the creatures held, aquamarine eyes looked around in disbelief at the chaos that was going on not moving from the sidewalk where she was when it happened, all that Army training and she was frozen, they definitely didn't prepare you for an alien invasion that's for sure.

A breath of air escaped her, eyes horrified as one of the blue blasts came straight toward her and before she could react she saw nothing but blue and felt nothing but pain that made it feel like she was being ripped apart over and over again until darkness took her.

* * *

Steve Rogers brushed a hand through his blonde hair as he walked down the street slowly, the cold winter air upsetting his fragile lungs, to where his home was, his cold, lonely home. Today had been the day of his mother's funeral and he hadn't felt like sticking around afterwards to hear the platitudes of the few people that had attended.

A hand on his shoulder brought him up short and he spun around to see his best friend, James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, is the one that had interrupted his void thoughts as he walked, "Hey buddy." Bucky greeted giving the smaller man a small smile, "You slipped off before I could get to you." He said as they resumed walking.

"Yeah." Steve responded softly and shrugged his thin shoulders, "Just wanted to get home is all."

"Course buddy, though next time don't leave without me, I had to talk to everyone since your mum bragged about me to them." Bucky grumbled good heartedly.

"I would have thought you would have loved all of the attention." Steve ribbed.

"Well, yeah, of course normally but when they have wrinkles on their wrinkles it's when I give pause." He said with a shudder hoping to get a small smile or a bit of a laugh out of Steve but gained neither and turned his attention back down to Steve to see the younger man looking quite intently into the alley that they had just passed and he saw the fading of a blue light, "What the?" Bucky mumbled.

"Come on, let's go check it out." Steve said and ducked out from Bucky's arm and headed into the alley, Bucky's grasping fingers failing to catch the others coat to stop him, letting out a sigh at the inevitable trouble that was in the alley he followed after Steve.

Bucky stopped behind where Steve had also stopped just before the dead end of the alley, the body of a woman laid crumpled in the rubbish, clothes singed and soot covering all the skin that was visible, "What the hell?" Bucky breathed as they both took a few steps closer to the body.

"What do we do Buck?" Steve questioned his best friend.

"I guess the only thing we can do is grab her and take her back to yours until she wakes up." Bucky responded as he moved over and picked up the woman, "Grab the bags and let's get out of here before whoever did this comes back."

Steve quickly grabbed the bags with a little bit of effort, one of the bags seeming to weigh almost as much as he did and followed quickly after Bucky toward his home with a mysterious and hurt woman in tow.

Getting back to Steve's apartment Bucky waited until his best friend opened the door but he couldn't find his key in his pocket so with a sigh Bucky kicked at the brick that was there revealing the spare key underneath, Steve gave Bucky a look, one saying 'I knew that' before he picked it up and opened the door to his apartment and the three headed inside.

"Now what do we do?" Steve asked dropping the bags near the couch as Bucky put the woman down on the ratty couch and stepped back.

"I guess we just have to wait until she wakes up from her nap." Bucky said heading for the kitchen, "You want a drink buddy?"

Steve sat down in the arm chair, the chair swallowing his frame, "Yeah." He said softly, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"You know you really shouldn't go running into dead end alley's if you don't know what's at the other end Steve." Bucky told him as he sat down on the other arm chair after giving Steve his drink.

Steve sighed, it was an age old argument with Bucky when it came to him jumping in head first and not thinking about his own safety, "I know Bucky but if we hadn't have done it, who knows what could have happened to her if we just left her there."

"Well there is that I suppose but really Steve, just think before you act and don't leave me behind like you usually do before I follow you." Bucky told him.

Steve shot his friend a small smile, "I'll try."

Bucky was about to respond when the woman bolted up right on the couch taking in frantic gasps of air and looking around frantically, her breathing not regulating. Both Bucky and Steve moved over to the couch, Bucky's larger frame blocking Steve a little in case something happened and the woman lashed out, "Hey it's alright, you're okay." Bucky said softly gaining the woman's attention.

Bright eyes snapped onto Bucky's, one eye blue and the other green, and her breathing began to regulate, "Who are you?" She managed to get out between breaths.

"I'm James Buchanan Barnes but people call me Bucky and this is Steve Rogers, you're in his place, we found you in a back alley passed out and looking like you had been through hell." Bucky explained.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, "Would you like some water?"

"Please." She responded coughing a little and watched as Steve headed to the small kitchen to grab a glass of water and brought it back and handed it over to her.

"What's your name and why were you in that alley way?" Steve asked.

"My name is Starlyn and as to how I got into that alley, I have no idea." Starlyn responded.

"Well what do you remember?" Bucky questioned.

"I was hailing a cab and then these _things_ started to attack New York and one of them shot their weapon at me and all I remember then is pain, ripping limb from limb pain." She explained.

Steve and Bucky looked to each other and then back to Starlyn, "New York isn't under attack." Steve told her, "There is a war going on yes but nothing State side that we're involved in."

Starlyn looked at them in confusion, "What? I know what I saw."

"Well we're telling you that New York isn't under attack, it's perfectly safe." Bucky said firmly, "If you don't believe us then look out the window and you'll see."

Starlyn put the glass down on the floor and stood up on unsteady feet and went over to the lone window at the front of the apartment and looked out the window and what she saw shocked the living day lights out of her. The large skyscrapers that littered New York weren't visible, there were only a few and the housing looked quite old and there wasn't a giant black hole in the sky where those _things_ came from, "What the hell?" She breathed and went back over to the couch and sat down, completely stunned, "What war?" She asked looking up at Steve and Bucky.

"Huh?"

"What war is happening right now?"

"World War II, Hitler is trying his hand at taking over the world." Steve told her and watched as she paled dramatically and was almost prepared for her passing out at the dramatic change in pallor.

"Oh Jesus what the fuck happened?" She mumbled to herself and looked up to see Bucky and Steve staring at her in slight shock at her language, "What?" She asked.

Both shook themselves out of their shock, "Ah nothing, nothing at all." Bucky responded, "But why are you freaking out so much?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She responded with a sarcastic laugh throwing an arm over her face as she thought about what had transpired and how she came to be in the 1940's and right in the middle of World War II.

"Are… are you okay?" Steve tentatively asked the woman.

Starlyn sighed, "Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to be."

"So what was this about an attack on New York?" Bucky asked.

Starlyn shook her head, "It's nothing that you need to worry about, and maybe I'm just finally going mad and saw something that wasn't there." She explained.

"If you say so." Bucky said with a shrug.

Now wasn't the time for her to explain anything to the two in front of her, yes she knew that she could tell Steve Rogers since soon he would become the world's first super hero, Captain America, but there is only so much a person could and would believe. And really what was she supposed to say? That she was from the future and that Steve would become an icon to the whole world through his work as Captain America, tell them things about the future that will happen, though by doing that there is always the chance of the oh so famous 'butterfly effect' happening and possibly making things much worse than they already were and there was also that fact that she didn't have all the answers to any questions that they may or could have.

"Would you like to take a shower?" Steve asked breaking Starlyn out of her thoughts and she looked over and the blonde.

"That would be good I think." She said looking down at herself, she was in a terrible state.

"Follow me." Steve said softly as he stood and started down the hall to where the bathroom was, "Do you have something to wear?"

Starlyn brushed a hand through her hair, "I don't even know the state of my clothes in the duffle so I guess I don't have anything until I look through it."

"I'll be right back." Steve said and headed into one of the rooms and brought back a piece of folded cloth, "I hope this will fit you okay." He said handing it over, almost reluctant to part with it.

"I'm sure that it will fit fine and I'll take care of it." She said and headed into the bathroom.

"Towels are under the sink." Steve said before heading back out into the lounge.

* * *

Steve joined Bucky back in the lounge and sat back down on the arm chair he sat on before while waiting for Starlyn to wake up. He was tired and his lungs were giving him a little bit of difficulty from being outside earlier and not coming straight home after the funeral.

"You okay there punk?" Bucky questioned looking his friend over, his pallor had become shallow.

"I'm okay Bucky." Steve softly responded as he grabbed his inhaler from his pocket and took a couple of puffs.

"So what are we going to do about the girl?" Bucky asked him as he sat down again now sure that his best friend was going to be okay for now.

"I guess she could stay here if she doesn't have anywhere to go." Steve muttered as he played with his shirt sleeve.

"Are you sure about that Steve?" Bucky asked gently.

Steve shrugged, "It's better than being alone." He whispered.

"If that's what you want but don't think for a minute that you're alone Steve, you have me." Bucky reminded him.

Steve gave Bucky a small grateful smile, "I know Bucky, thanks."

"You got me till the end of the line pal." Bucky responded and was about to say more when Starlyn came from the small hall, rubbing at her wet hair with a towel and dressed in one of Steve's mums dresses that seemed to fit quite well. As it should considering that both women look to be about the same size at first look.

"That was refreshing." Starlyn hummed, "At least until the hot water ran out a couple of minutes in." She grumbled.

"Yeah, we've been on to the manager about that but he doesn't seem to care all that much about it and it seems like it's only this apartment as well." Bucky spoke up.

Starlyn snorted and threw the towel on the back of the couch as she went through her duffel to grab her toiletries bag and pull out a hair brush and tie to take care of her hair, "And let me guess, he's a sleaze too and because there were no pretty girls in this apartment it didn't matter to him."

Steve and Bucky looked stunned at Starlyn for guessing right about the manager, "Well there isn't anything that can be done." Steve said, "It's not like I have the extra money to do it either."

"Oh pish posh." Starlyn said waving her hand around, "I'll take care of it once I put some shoes on." She told them.

"And what are you going to tell them?" Bucky questioned, "How are you going to explain living in the Rogers apartment?"

Starlyn paused in brushing her hair at the thought, "I guess I could always tell them I'm Steve's sister and that I've been away with other family or something." She said and continued to brush her hair and gathering it into a ponytail, "And if I flash a bit of leg that'll probably get the blood pumping too." She gave a flash of a smile to the two.

"Probably give the old boy a heart attack." Bucky snorted.

Starlyn shrugged, "Well he shouldn't be such a perv then."

"Don't worry about it." Steve spoke up softly.

"Need to worry about it Steve, those cold showers aren't doing anything good for your asthma or those times that you get sick." Bucky spoke up, he knew that his friend needed the warm showers and also hoped that it would help belay any sickness that he could catch.

"Don't worry bout it Stevie, I'll take care of it before I leave." Starlyn said throwing her hair bush back into her duffel and grabbed something from her other bag before slipping on some boots that she had in her duffel and headed for the door, "Where does the manager stay?"

"Bottom floor, only apartment down there." Bucky told her when Steve didn't.

"Alrighty, I'll be back soon, in the meantime why don't the pair of you look at what there is to eat and make a list of what you want and I'll go shopping and cook for the pair of you for being kind enough to bring me back here." Starlyn all but ordered and left the apartment for the managers.

"She's quite pushy isn't she?" Bucky spoke up.

"She's definitely not like any other woman I've come across." Steve muttered and went into the kitchen to do as she had asked but knew that there wasn't much, ever since his mother had gotten sick he hadn't eaten that much and neither did his mother so there was nearly nothing in the cupboard or the old nearly broken fridge. Steve sighed and lent his head against the cupboard, "What do I do now Bucky?"

"That's up to you to decide Steve, but I think that you should maybe finish up with your art classes for lack of anything to do and figure it everything out one day at a time." Bucky responded.

"Alright, so what's the prognosis boys?" Starlyn questioned as she came back into the apartment.

"Do you like dust?" Bucky questioned as he turned to look at her and could see some soot on her hands, "What did you do? Fix the furnace yourself?" He laughed.

"Of course I did, I wasn't actually going to talk to that man." Starlyn said turning her nose up at Bucky, "I am not revealing myself to a pig just to get something, I am much better than that."

"Didn't say you weren't doll." Bucky responded.

"Well at least there will be hot water every time we shower now and if that changes again I know exactly what to do about it since the old bastard actually loosened the pipes." She grumbled and washed her hands to get the soot and grime off, "But with how hard I tightened it there is no way in hell he'll be able to loosen it."

"Do you know how to fix a fridge?" Bucky questioned, "It's old but still works it's just not as cold as it should be."

Starlyn shrugged "I can have a look but if you don't have tools there isn't anything I'd be able to do." She explained, "Now since you're a man, nice and strong and all, why don't you pull it out so I can have a look." Starlyn told Bucky with a twinkle in her different coloured eyes.

Bucky rolled his eyes and moved over to the fridge and pulled it from where it was snug against the wall, "Have you made a list Steve?" Starlyn asked as she squatted down to have a look at the connections.

"Uh, I'll do it now." Steve said and went to the table and grabbed a notepad and pen to write down some food stuffs that were needed whilst thinking about how much money he had on him.

Starlyn could see that the connections had become loose and that it wasn't over time, she could see tool marks on the bolts that shouldn't be as obvious once it had come from the factory, it seems that the manager was possibly trying to get Steve and his mother out of the apartment, with a low growl Starlyn quickly tightened the bolts and just hoped that it would fix the problem. They'd find out in a few hours if it did or not, "Hey Steve, was there ever and altercation between you, your mum and the manager?" She asked standing up and indicating for Bucky to shove the fridge back.

"Uh, I don't think so." Steve responded after a few minutes of thought.

"Well there was that time when he asked Sarah out and she said no because she was too busy working and looking after you." Bucky spoke up reminding him.

"Yeah, that'd do it." Starlyn grumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

"What do you mean?" Steve questioned confused.

"The hot water heater connections are loose, the connections of the fridge were also loose and I bet dollars to donuts that the radiator is also loose." She said and went over to the radiator to have a quick look and poked the connections, "Yep, they're loose too."

"Why though?" Steve asked.

"Some men will do anything to get the attention of the woman they want, they want to be the saviour in that situation and hope that it pays off for them in the end, it's what the old boy was doing I'm guessing." She mused and looked over at Steve, "Did the hot water come back for a few weeks and then go again?"

"Yes."

"Well there you go then. When your mother said no he figured the only way to get her to talk and to see him was by making sure things went wrong in the apartment." She explained moving over to the table and took a seat next to Steve who looked shocked at the thought.

"What kind of person would do that?" Steve questioned, "Why?"

"There are some strange people out there Stevie my boy and they think all of themselves sometimes." Starlyn said rubbing a hand over his, "Now what have you got on that list?" She questioned looking over his forearm at the list and saw very little on it, "Well that's not nearly enough now is it." She said taking it from him, "Oh well it's a start now which one of you is going to be a gentleman and walk a lady to the store?" She questioned standing and going over to her bag and grabbing a purse out of it.

"I'll go." Bucky spoke up, it would give Steve some time to be alone for a little while.

"Alright we'll see you in a bit then Stevie." Starlyn said as she was escorted out of the flat with Bucky and into the streets. "Why did Steve put so few things on the list?" She asked after a few minutes of walking.

"He would have only written down what he was able to afford and since you left without taking any money from him he'll be a bit put out when we get back." Bucky explained.

"But what about his mum?" She asked, surely he would have put down more to feed her too.

Bucky cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Today was the day of her funeral." He finally managed to get out, "We were coming back from that when we found you and it's her dress Steve gave you."

Starlyn looked as though she had a light bulb moment, "That's why he seemed so reluctant to part with the dress." She said softly, "Well then, while were out I'll go and grab some clothes for myself."

"But what about what's in your bag?" Bucky questioned.

"Haven't had a chance to wash them yet." She said as they came across a dress store and headed inside to quickly get a few things, "Won't be a minute." She said and disappeared amongst the racks to look for something that would suit her. ' _This really sucks that I have to wear dresses, it's really not fair._ ' She thought as she found a couple of dresses and undergarments and swiftly paid for them, hoping that no one would notice the money and thankfully they didn't and she wondered out of the store to meet up with Bucky again outside who was charming a woman that had stopped to window shop. Starlyn rolled her eyes at the display, the man certainly knew what he was doing when it came to a pretty lady that was for sure as soon as he saw her he excused himself with a quick kiss on the back of her hand and sauntered over to Starlyn with a smile, "Having fun?" She questioned as they started off.

"Yes, got a date for Friday." He said smugly.

"And what was your excuse when I came out of the store?" She asked.

"That you're my cousin."

Starlyn laughed, "You really are a smooth talker aren't you." She stated.

Bucky gave a shrug, "I try my best doll." He said as he held the door to the supermarket open for her to walk through.

"Okay, so what are some of Steve's favourite food?" Starlyn questioned grabbing a trolley and starting at the vegie isle and started to grab potatoes, broccoli, pumpkin and other assorted vegetables and fruit before heading for the dairy isle.

"Apple Pie is one of his favourite foods, his ma made one for his birthday every year. Other than that he's a meat and potatoes kinda guy." Bucky explained.

"Apple pie really?" Starlyn questioned.

"Steve's birthday is July 4th so it kinda ties in ya know." Bucky informed her.

Starlyn laughed, "Of course it is." She said shaking her head as she grabbed what she thought Steve would like as well as a few things for herself, "What about you Bucky, what's your favourite food?" She asked.

"I'm kinda partial to apple pie myself, Sarah made a great apple pie." He mused, "I'm also like Steve, a meat and potatoes kinda guy."

"Ah so you're both easy to please in the food department then, though when it comes to women it seems to take a little more taste testing to find the right flavour huh." She teased.

Bucky shrugged, "Nah, just not really that particular."

"Oh boy, you really need to figure out what you like if you ever hope to one day marry." Starlyn told him.

"I still have some time before I have to settle down." Bucky responded as he threw a couple of things that Steve would like into the trolley.

"So do you think that we have everything?" Starlyn asked after a period of silence and grabbing groceries.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that there is enough for the next couple of weeks, Steve doesn't really eat that much." Bucky informed her as they headed to the counter to pay for the food.

"Alrighty then let's get this stuff paid for and haul butt back to the apartment." Starlyn said as she put the items on the counter to be paid for so the pair of them could get the hell of dodge, Starlyn did not like shopping in any way, shape or form and only did it when necessary.

"Why do I get the feeling that you don't like shopping?" Bucky said.

"Because I don't and I only do it when I absolutely have to." Starlyn responded as she handed over the money, grabbed her change and loaded up Bucky with the heavy bags and grabbed the others and headed out of the store, "So I guess steak and potatoes for tea then?" She questioned.

"Sounds good." Bucky agreed.


	2. USA is joining the War

Here is the second chapter, I hope that you guys like what I have done. I will only be updating once to twice a week. Please do let me know if there is anything that isnt accurate, I know there will be some things that I have taken liberty of but that is Fanfiction for you lol.

Please read and review

* * *

Since Starlyn and Bucky had left, Steve sat at the table just running his finger over the lines of the wood as he thought about what the day had brought him. First was his mother's funeral and then finding Starlyn in that alley way, was God trying to tell him something by taking his mother away and putting Starlyn in his path? There was nothing that he could come up with that made sense out of the whole thing.

With a sigh Steve got up from the table and moved over to the couch and grabbed the sketch pad and pencil that was sitting on the side table and opened it to a new page and just started drawing, letting his mind wonder and letting his hand take control of what he was drawing, something that he had done in the past when his illness's felt like they were getting too much and he just wanted his mind to wonder away from the life he had been given. He still believed that it should have been him that should have died and not his mother but God had decided differently and took his mother into his service.

Sometime had passed and he had filled about 5 pages of his sketch pad with images, he was flicking back to where he started when the front door opened and two pairs of feet entered the apartment, Steve looked down at the image on the first page, ignoring the pair for the moment, and saw the soot covered Starlyn laying on his couch when she was sleeping, the next page was a picture of his mother before she had gotten sick, though in the image she looked tired from long day working as a nurse, she still looked beautiful to Steve, the next one was an image of Bucky and a faceless girl dancing on one of the rare nights Steve let him drag him out, the next page was an image of himself, sickly and weak, in his mind, looking out at something in the distance and the last page was of his mother's funeral, probably a little morbid but it was something he needed to get out of his system.

"You right there punk?" Bucky called from the kitchen as he helped Starlyn put away the groceries.

"I'm alright jerk." Steve responded closing his sketch pad and putting it down on the side table with the pencil and headed into the kitchen.

"So how does steak and veg sound for tea tonight?" Starlyn questioned the pair.

"Sounds good." Steve responded, "Do you need help?"

"Bucky get the potatoes peeled and Steve you do the apples while I take care of the meat." Starlyn told them and put said potatoes down in front of the two and let them get started, "Now how would you like it done, grilled meat with mash or roasted?" She questioned.

Both Steve and Bucky shrugged, "However you want to do it." Was the response from both men.

"Alright then." Starlyn responded and they worked in silence doing their jobs, Starlyn was also making up the pie base for the apple pie that Steve was cutting the apples for as she marinated the meat with soy sauce, minced garlic, tomato sauce and pepper. She also looked through the cupboards for saucepans to soften the apples a little and boil the vegetables.

An hour or so later wonderful smells came from the kitchen, Steve and Bucky were looking forward to what was for dinner, both salivating at the smell. The smells were a lot different than any they had smelt before and couldn't wait to eat.

"Alright boys, dinner's ready, get your butts to the table and we'll eat." She called as she dished up the meal on to the plates, making sure to give Steve a little extra but not making it obvious to him that he had more than Bucky and herself, he needed the vitamins and minerals that the food contained.

Both Steve and Bucky hurried to the table, pushing gently at each other to try and get to the table first, it was the lightest that Steve had felt all day and he was happy that it was with his best friend and a new one. Starlyn brought over the plates along with a couple bottles of pop and put each plate and drink down in front of Bucky and Steve before going back to get hers and joining them at the table.

"Thank you Starlyn." Steve said as he started on his dinner and moaned at the taste, "What is in the sauce you put on the meat?" He asked.

"Soy sauce, tomato sauce, minced garlic and pepper. Usually I like to have the meat soak in it overnight but it still worked out." Starlyn explained with a smile, "I'm glad that you like it."

The trio sat in silence as they ate their dinner, the only sound coming from the scraping of cutlery against the plates the food sat on. It was peaceful and something Starlyn hadn't had in a while, not with the continuous boisterous noise of the base mess tent going on around her even though she had joined in with most if not all conversations it was still nice to have quite every once in a while.

Once finished Starlyn stood from the table, taking her plate over to the sink and putting it down in the basin before moving over to the stove and pulling out the pie that was cooking inside and put it on the counter to cool while Steve and Bucky finished their dinner, the pair seemed to be savouring the flavour of the food. She grabbed a couple of bowls from the cupboard and grabbed the ice cream from the freezer and divided the pie into the three bowls and put a scoop of ice cream on top and brought it over to the table and put a bowl in front of each man and one down for herself.

Bucky groaned as he looked at the apple pie and ice cream, "I really, really want to eat that but I don't know if I can."

"I'll eat it if you can't." Steve said as he reached for Bucky's portion of pie, Bucky moved quickly and brought the bowl to his chest so that Steve couldn't get it without a fight, "No, it's mine." Bucky whined like a child and Steve and Starlyn laughed at the display while eating their pie.

Steve had a faraway look on his face as he ate his pie and ice cream and thought back to his mother making an apple pie for his birthday each year, it seemed that Starlyn had gotten close to his mother's recipe and it brought back some very fond memories cancelling out the bad that had been many the last few days.

"So what are you going to do about your living situation doll?" Bucky questioned.

"Could always go and find a hotel or something." Starlyn responded as she finished cleaning out her bowl with the spoon knowing that it wouldn't be proper or lady-like for her to lick the bowl.

"No, you can't do that, they'll take advantage of you." Steve spoke up, "You can stay here as long as you need." He offered.

"I don't want to put you out Steve." Starlyn responded.

"It's okay really, I don't really want to come back to an empty home every day." He explained softly pulling at his sleeve cuff.

"Alright thank you Steve." Starlyn said and reached over to give him a kiss on the temple, "Now if the pair of you have finished, you get to do the dishes since I cooked." She told them.

"Sounds fair." Bucky agreed grabbing his plate, cutlery, bowl and Starlyn's bowl before heading over to the sink and putting the plug in and starting the water to get started on the dishes with Steve following behind to help dry and put away.

Starlyn looked over at the pair at the sink, watching as they played around as they did the dishes, at this moment in time they were just two guys in a large world, but soon they would both be head long in to the war that would involve the American's soon and have them being drafted or volunteering to join the fight, though in Steve's case it was going to be through a lab that he was even going to be able to join his best friend on the front, and if she had any say in it she would be going there with them to try and keep them both out of trouble.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Starlyn had arrived in their lives and Steve had felt better and a little relieved in having someone staying at the house with him and cooking their meals and Bucky didn't have to find him a date because Starlyn would just go with him most of the time so that made going out a bit easier on Steve cause he wouldn't be a 'fourth' wheel when both girls hung off of Bucky's arms, though Bucky did try and set him up here and there, mostly when Starlyn didn't want to go, but it always ended the same way. Bucky taking care of the needs of both girls because of how small Steve was.

Things had settled into a routine, Starlyn had even gotten a job at a little boutique to help out and to keep her stash of cash levelled so that if anything had happened, she losing her job or Steve losing his part time job, they would still have something to fall back on until either of them could get some more work.

Steve was also studying art at collage so he could even do something with that doing sketches for people and have them pay him for the sketch, it's what countless others would do in her time and some of the really good ones got paid quite well but ultimately it was up to Steve what he was going to do. Starlyn already knew what she was going to do, and that was get her ass in to the military so she could be there for Steve and she wasn't going to take no for an answer but how was the question, maybe the Nursing Corps would be the best way to get in cause sooner or later war was coming to America.

* * *

It had happened, it had finally been announced that America was joining the war effort in Germany, Steve and Bucky had been in Steve's art class when the announcement was made over the radio so Bucky had taken Steve down to the local gym where he himself had gone and was a 3 time YMCA welterweight champion, something that had shocked the hell out of Starlyn when she had found out but shouldn't have been surprised when she had seen Bucky come out of Steve's bathroom after a shower with only a towel around his waist and a broad trim chest dripping wet in her face.

Starlyn still hadn't told the boys about where she was from, even though they had asked she just wasn't sure when or what exactly to tell them because it was all so far-fetched but on the plus side she had gotten in to the Nursing Corps and was off training and hadn't been home in the last two weeks though she had kept in contact with Steve and Bucky it was hard not having their constant presence there. Starlyn was easily the head of the class, blood not making her squeamish, gag or throw up, her needle work was always steady and because of her enhanced eye sight she got the vein every time, even the hard to get ones that even some doctors had trouble with and her stitching was also well done because of the steady hand and good eyes that one of the doctors had actually pulled her aside and started to teach her advanced techniques, techniques that would help out in the battle field as the doctor himself had been through the Great War and was hoping that he wouldn't be called into this one as well.

"What's up Doc?" Starlyn questioned as she walked into his office and took a seat.

"You're going to be heading out soon." He informed her and handed over a folder of papers that Starlyn took in confusion and flicked through the papers to see that she had been signed off as a doctor and not a nurse as she had been training and knowing that everyone was pretty much fast tracked through it she was surprised at the document. But there was also a second document that was specifically for the Army Nursing Corps.

"Why are you giving me two lots of documents?" She questioned returning the papers to the folder.

"You have an innate talent my dear, something that is very rare. I believe that you will get through this war without any troubles. You have also been requested by a Dr. Abraham Erskine to help him out with something." Doctor Bernstein explained, "What that something is I do not know."

Starlyn did a little dance inside this is exactly the chance she needed to keep an eye on Steve when he goes through the procedure, "Of course sir, but I just have to say, you know that I'm going to get a lot of flack for my position right?"

Bernstein nodded, "I know, it is not a position for women but I know that you will make me proud and show them what women can really do but being a doctor will be on the sly my dear, officially you are of the WAC." He told her.

Doctor Bernstein was a one of a kind man, like Steve, when it came to women and it showed in his teaching of the nurses since so few of the other doctors really cared if the job was going to be done right and if it was to be done right it was going to be done by a man. Starlyn had done her best to pick up where the doctors were failing with the nurses. Doctors did the surgeries but it was the nurses that were in charge of the wellbeing and care of the patients after that point, it had nothing to do with the doctors.

"I will sir, you have my word." She said giving him a smile, "Is there anything else?" She asked.

Bernstein shook his head, "No, you're free to go home and spend time with your family, your shipping out papers are in the folder. Good luck Starlyn."

"Thank you doc." Starlyn said moving over to give him a kiss on the cheek in thanks before leaving with a spring in her step to her room to pack and head back home.

* * *

Starlyn was finally back at the dingy little apartment that belonged to Steve but walking in there was no one home but there was three 4F stamped forms sitting on the kitchen counter with all of Steve's medical problems listed and Starlyn knew as soon as asthma was seen that he would be rejected just on that alone before even getting to his other medical problems of which there were many.

' _Poor Steve._ ' Starlyn thought as he put down the forms and headed to her room to put away her bag before looking through the package properly to see when she was going to be shipping out only to see that there was no actual set date and that it was up to Dr. Erskine to decide when she would actually be joining the war effort but there was a note to meet him at the Stark Expo recruitment site in a week.

Deciding to not sit around doing nothing, Starlyn changed in to a pair of old shorts and tank top from her duffel, knowing that she would hear Steve and Bucky before they even got up to the apartment so she would be able to change into more appropriate 40's clothing so she wouldn't have to explain anything, and got started on making something for dinner and dessert to surprise the boys with.

Starlyn flicked on the radio and got started doing dinner dancing around as she prepared it, blocking out the world around her, and not listening properly for the sounds of Steve and Bucky's return like she usually would, that meant that she was going to have to explain what she was wearing to the pair and all because she wasn't being careful and just put on 40's clothes.


	3. Starlyn's powers found out

Hey everyone, here is the third chapter of my story thank you to those of you that have reviewed i really appreciate it.

Also i didnt do this in the first chapter I DO NOT OWN ANYONE OR ANYTHING INVOLVED WITH MARVEL, I ONLY OWN STARLYN AND ANY OTHER OC'S

Please enjoy and review.

* * *

Steve puffed from next to Bucky as they headed back to his apartment, going to the gym and then the walk home was really playing havoc on his asthma and he knew that he would pay for it later on when he went about making his dinner, though maybe he could talk Bucky into doing it tonight.

"You alright there punk?" Bucky questioned throwing an arm around his friends shoulder and pulling him over to his side and ruffling his hair.

"Just tired." Steve huffed, "I don't think I should have done the work out today." He admitted.

Bucky sighed and pushed Steve softly up the stairs to his apartment, "I did ask you if you wanted to stop." He reminded him but was looking at the door in confusion, "Did you leave the radio on?"

"No I didn't." Steve responded.

Bucky put a finger to his lip and grabbed the key from Steve's hand and quietly opened the door with Steve following behind him only for the both of them to stop in the doorway to see Starlyn dancing around the kitchen in clothing that neither had ever seen on a woman before and were confused about the outfit, though Steve was blushing a bit at how much skin was showing and Bucky was ogling.

"What are you wearing?" Steve spoke up and both watched as Starlyn jumped, dropping the plates that she had in her hands and turning to face them with her hand over her heart, the other reaching over to turn down the radio.

Starlyn stared at the two in the doorway in shock knowing now that she had been caught in her clothes she was going to have to explain something to them about the outfit, "Welcome home." She tried for instead and moved to walk over to the pair, forgetting that there was porcelain and her bare feet sliced open as she walked over to the boys to greet them with a hug. Bucky and Steve stared in horror as she came toward them with bloodied footprints trailing behind her.

"Are you okay?" Steve quickly asked moving over to her and grabbing her arm.

Starlyn looked to them in confusion, "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you just sliced your feet opened on the broken plates." Bucky informed her as he picked her up and brought her over to the couch.

It was when the attention was brought to her feet that she felt the familiar sting but also knew that the boys wouldn't find any cuts so she knew then and there that she would have to tell them what she could about who she was, even if they completely shunned her afterwards and they had seen her clothes so she had to tell them something about that too, "I'm fine Bucky, I promise." She told him as he pulled her foot up on to his lap and Steve went and got a cloth and bowl of water.

"Yeah, sure you are." Bucky scoffed and squeezed out the towel of excess water and started to wipe off the blood only to re-wipe again with a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong Buck?" Steve questioned looking down over Bucky's shoulder and saw what his best friend was looking at and saw that there was no cuts where there was blood anywhere on the entire foot, it was clean of cuts but not of blood though Bucky quickly took care of that and soon both her feet were clear of blood.

"What the hell?" Bucky asked looking up at Starlyn, Steve looking at her as well, words failing him.

Starlyn sighed and let her head hit the back of the couch and let out a small groan at what she had to tell them and she knew that it was going to be a hard discussion on her part and full of disbelief on their part. "You won't believe what I have to tell you." She told them.

"I think that we can determine that for ourselves." Steve spoke up as he took a seat.

"I hope the explanation will explain those clothes you're wearing." Bucky grumbled.

"The clothes are simple, it's what is worn by women in my time." Starlyn responded simply.

Bucky and Steve looked at each other in confusion before turning that confusion to Starlyn, "What do you mean 'in my time'?"

"The day that you found me in that alley I was actually in Time Square in the year 2012 when an attack happened and I was shot at with some weird blue light and ended up in that alley way when I should have been killed." She explained and saw the look of disbelief on their faces, "Yeah I know you don't believe me but that's fine you don't have to but it's the truth, I was born in October of 1984, I don't even exist in this time, my grandparents are only in their 20's like you guys and I'm not even a thought for them right now." She laughed as got up from the couch and disappeared down the hall to her room and came back holding her hand bag, "This is the only possible proof that I have to show you." She explained and handed over her passport and i.d for them to see and then pulled out something slim and flat and powered it up, hoping there was still enough power to show the two of them.

"What's that?" Steve asked handing back the I.D after he and Bucky had looked at it.

"This is something that will be invented in 1973 and changed over time to be smaller and have other functions as well, it's called a mobile phone, much like an actual telephone it is portable and can make calls all over the world put it also hold a camera and can take pictures or videos." She explained showing them the screen with a picture of her on the front with a group around her dressed in military clothing and then flicked through the pictures, this time of New York, "This is what New York looks like in about 70 years." She said softly as she went through the pictures slowly so that they could see the difference from what New York is now to what it is going to become.

"Wouldn't it be dangerous showing and telling us this?" Bucky asked.

Starlyn shrugged, "I'm not telling you anything of what could happen, like with the war or what could happen to either of you, all I'm doing is showing you what New York would look like in the future, so as long as I'm careful everything should still happen as it should." She explained.

"And what about the fact that you cut your feet and there are no wounds?" Bucky asked next, "That is something that should be impossible, especially with all the blood that was present."

"That is going to be just as difficult to comprehend." Starlyn stated, "It's all to do with evolution, you know how we were apparently monkeys first turned in to humanoid form, well what I am has something to do with human evolution, some people think that what I and others are is the next stage of evolution, where we end up with special abilities. In my time we are prosecuted so we hide in plain sight, not using if we can help it." She explained.

"What kind of abilities?" Steve questioned.

"Some can read minds, teleport, use the elements, heal instantly like I can do, there are so many forms of mutation it's all dependant of genetics." Starlyn explained, "It's something that is actually really hard to explain and it can just happen to people, there is no actual base for why a person does or doesn't get it."

"So that's all you can do?" Bucky asked.

Starlyn gave a mirthless laugh, "If only." She said softly as she clenched her fists and three blades came out of each hand between the knuckles surprising both men, "This is my offensive, the healing is my defensive." She explained and let them think about everything that she had just told them, she knew it would take a little while for it to process for the both of them that she was a freak and a freak from the future at that.

"So what are you doing back here?" Steve asked in confusion, he would have some time later to truly process what he had been told, "Weren't you supposed to be studying?"

Starlyn beamed at Steve and rushed over to the kitchen table and grabbed the file and plopped down carefully on Steve's lap, well onto the bit of couch on the side with her legs thrown over his lap so as not to squish him, "I made doctor. Well in the civilian world, still just a plain old nurse in the WAC, but I'll have extra skills that'll help me out there." She beamed proudly to show Steve the documents.

Steve and Bucky looked at the woman in shock and Bucky came over to have a look at the documents as well and saw that she had indeed somehow ended up becoming a doctor, "How did that come about?" Bucky questioned.

"In the beginning I was doing all the nursing things that I was meant to do, but one of the doctors saw that I had the patience and the skills to do something more than being just a nurse so he took me on and trained me to be a surgeon and I finally finished my training with him and have been requested to work with another doctor whom I will meet at the Stark Expo in a week and from there who knows." She explained excitedly but could see the disappointment on Steve's face though he did try to hide it with a smile.

"Well I guess we're going to the Stark Expo." Bucky said with a smile, "We're not going to let you go alone."

Starlyn smiled at the pair and gave them each a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you both." She said and got up, "Now let's have dinner." She said going to the kitchen and grabbing the oven mitts and pulled out the baking tray with potato and vegie bake inside and set it on the counter.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Starlyn asked as she dished up dinner and brought it over to the table for the boys to start chowing down.

"I think we should hit the cinema they've got the Wizard of Oz, Bambi, Dumbo, Pinocchio and Casablanca playing." Bucky offered.

"I will go with choice number one, The Wizard of Oz." Starlyn responded, "What do you think Steve?"

"Sounds good to me." He agreed with a slight smile.

* * *

Bucky and Steve sat in the lounge after the movie, Starlyn had headed to bed after a long day and knew that the boys needed to have a talk about what she had told them. Each had a hot chocolate that Starlyn had made before going to bed.

"So what do you think Steve?" Bucky questioned his best friend.

Steve shrugged, "Nothing really, just because she from the future and special doesn't mean that she's any different than what we've already seen." Steve told him sternly, "I mean, I understand what she was saying, I did see a blue glow in the alley, that's why I wanted to go down there."

"I know buddy, I saw a little bit of the light when you went running down the alley so that is true. Starlyn is still the same person as she was before she told us what she did." Bucky responded calmly, "There is nothing that she can say or do that will change how we look at her or how we feel about her Steve."

Steve nodded, "I know Bucky, it's just… I feel like she was meant to be here with us you know, after mum died I just felt so lost and then this girl literarily falls into our lives at a time I guess I really needed someone that was completely separate from everyone and everything that I had been through." He admitted.

"She does seem to have that effect doesn't she?" Bucky laughed, "Seems like she was meant to be here the whole time but was born in to a different era and something dramatic had to happen to her to get her here with us."

"True, very true." Steve agreed.

"Well things seem pretty clear to me, we'll just go on as we have been and ignore the fact that we have a woman from the future and with powers living here, we'll just treat her as we have been the whole time she's been with us." Bucky said strongly.

Steve smiled, "Sounds like a plan. She's become my sister and I won't have it any other way."

Unknown to both men, Starlyn had been lingering in the hall way listening to their conversation and at their declarations tears came to her eyes, never had she felt so loved or accepted by someone that knew of her mutation but here they were, Captain America and Bucky Barnes were accepting her as she was and didn't care one bit about anything. A happy feeling burst from her chest as she quietly walked back to her room and went back to bed to get some sleep for the next day, but most of all, she had family again.

* * *

Today was the day that Starlyn was to meet Dr. Erskine at the Stark Expo, she was currently at the cinema with Steve after another 4F rejection, an advert of what was going on in the war was showing at the moment and there was a man calling out for the movie to start and Starlyn could see that it was starting to annoy Steve. Starlyn was dressed in her military uniform as she was going to be leaving after the cinema to head to the Expo.

"Hey, would you keep it down?" Steve called out, "Show some respect."

Steve's words caused the guy to stand up and he towered over Steve, Starlyn let out a sigh and stood up as Steve and the guy walked out of the cinema and she trailed behind to get Steve out of trouble when the situation called for it.

"What's going on?" Bucky spoke up from behind Starlyn.

Startled, Starlyn turned to Bucky and saw that he was in his military dress uniform and her stomach bottomed out at seeing him in it, she knew that he wouldn't have joined if Steve couldn't so that only left Bucky being drafted, something that she should have been aware of but couldn't always recall everything that had happened in the past, it's like her mind purposely closed off that kind of information so that she couldn't change anything too much, "Oh Bucky." She murmured throwing her arms around his neck and holding him tight.

"Hey doll, it's fine." Bucky whispered in her ear, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Now what's going on down there?"

"Steve is getting beat up again." She said softly as she played with one of the buttons on his jacket, "Some jerk yelling out in the cinema while some army reel was playing."

"Alright, wait here." Bucky said and headed off into the alley to get his best friend out of trouble once again.

Starlyn watched as Bucky blocked the next shot that was thrown at Steve, "Pick on someone your own size." He said throwing the guy down the alley, the guy turned on Bucky and swang a punch that Bucky dodged and he threw his own at the guy and then kicked him in the ass as he rushed passed Starlyn to save a little bit of whatever dignity he had left.

"Some time's I think that you like getting punched." Bucky said to Steve as Steve was bent over trying to catch his breath, Starlyn had come to stand by Bucky.

"I had 'em on the ropes." Steve responded as he wiped his nose of blood and flicked it off his hand the best he could.

Bucky bent down and picked up the piece of paper that was on the ground, "How many times is this?" Bucky questioned as he looked it over, "So you're from Paramus now?" He questioned as Starlyn read the form over his shoulder.

"You know that it's illegal to lie on an enlistment form right?" Starlyn questioned knowing that Steve knew that but he was trying all he could to get into the Army to join the pair of them overseas, Starlyn linked her arm through Bucky's, she didn't want him to go either but there was nothing to be done when it came to drafting, unless he skipped the country and Bucky wouldn't do that, that wasn't the kind of man Bucky was, "And seriously Jersey?" He asked, slightly insulted.

Steve finally looked up and in mid dusting off his hands he noticed Bucky in his uniform, "You get your orders?"

"The 107th. Sergeant James Barnes, shipping out for England first thing tomorrow." Bucky explained with a crooked smile.

Starlyn's grip tightened on Bucky's arm, she didn't think that he would be shipping out that quickly after training, even she had some time before she was to ship out, but with the way the war was going it should have surprised her that the soldiers were shipping out ASAP, Steve shook his head, a frown on his face, "I should be going." He muttered with disappointment.

Starlyn shook her head and hugged Steve, "Things will work out." She whispered in his ear before Bucky wrapped and arm around Steve's shoulder, "Come on man it's my last night!" He said and they started down the alley with Starlyn following behind smiling at the pair, "I got to get you cleaned up."

"Why? Where are we going?" Steve asked as Bucky released him and handed over the paper he was holding.

"The future." Bucky said smugly.

"Is not what you think." Starlyn muttered, "And this is where I have to leave to two of you." She spoke up from behind them as they left the alley way, causing the pair to turn back to her with looks of confusion, "I need to head to the Stark Expo now to meet with Dr. Erskine for my assignment." She explained to them.

Both seemed down trodden at the announcement, "You can't stay with us for a little bit longer?" Steve asked.

Starlyn moved over and brought Steve into a tight hug, "Sorry brother dearest but I need to know my orders before I do anything else." She explained and gave him a kiss on the forehead before moving over to Bucky, "You better keep your head down Barnes cause I swear if you get killed I will find a way to bring you back and kill you myself do you understand." She told him firmly, "And I expect letters mister and if I don't get them I will be very unhappy."

"Yes ma'am." Bucky responded with his cocky smirk as she brought him into a hug and held him tight.

"Please for the love of God be careful Bucky." She whispered, "God knows what Steve would do if he lost you." She said moving back and giving him a quick but sweet kiss on the lips, shocking him and Steve with the action, "Be safe, both of you." She said stepping back and walking off down the street leaving the two behind staring dumbly at her.

"She kissed me." Bucky mumbled rubbing a finger over his lips at the tingling feeling that was left behind.

"Guess there's a first time for everything." Steve muttered and started off home.

Bucky sighed and followed after his friend, only ever had Starlyn kissed him on the cheek, she knew that he was too much of a player, but she kissed him before she went off to fulfil her orders, but was there anything more to it or was it just a good luck kiss and wishful thinking on Bucky's part? Maybe they would see her later at the Expo.


	4. Stark Expo

Hello everyone, I am so sorry about the delay in getting this chapter out, I haven't been well lately and then I've been working extra to make up for being sick lol.

I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Starlyn flashed her papers at one of the entrances to the Expo and headed over to the recruitment area that was set up where she would be meeting with Dr. Erskine and finding out what she would be doing exactly and if it had anything to do with Project Rebirth.

"Hello is there anyone here?" She called into the office.

"Good afternoon." An accented voice called back coming out from the back of the office, "And who might you be?"

"First Lieutenant Starlyn Rogers reporting for duty sir." Starlyn responded with a crisp salute.

"And you were signed off as a doctor as well if I remember correctly, why did you not introduce yourself as such?" Erskine questioned.

"I was told that it would be best to introduce myself as first lieutenant of the WAC and let things go from there sir." She explained as she handed over her papers that he deftly took and looked through them with efficiency.

"Ah a student of Dr. Bernstein and quite the accomplished one at that." He hummed and waved for Starlyn to follow after him into the back, "What do you know of what we are trying to accomplish?" He questioned as he sat down at his desk.

"Hmm, it depends." Starlyn responded, the public only knew so much and the military of the future were always trying to find a way to recreate the serum.

"Depends on what my dear?"

"Project Rebirth or Operation Rebirth is a program that is to be used to create Super Soldiers to help in the war, there was another man that you had used an untested serum on, a Johann Schmidt, who is now called the Red Skull. Since then you have rejected soldiers from the program due to their assertiveness and aggressiveness because you fear another Red Skull. This serum will only be used once, when you find the right candidate, Dr. Erskine so I hope that you find the right person for the job."

Dr. Erskine seemed to be in shock at the proclamation of the young lady in front of him, "How do you know about Schmidt? No one knows about him." He was nervous about the woman in front of him, who was she working for?

"I am not the enemy nor am I associated with anyone that is outside of the American Military." Starlyn assured him, "As for how I know about Schmidt, well that's where things get interesting Dr and I will explain in length, but what I would like to know right now is how effective the serum is and whether or not the serum will kill the person it's being injected into." She told.

"Who do you work for?" He asked, not believing what she was saying.

"Like I said, this is where it gets difficult Dr." Starlyn replied, "What you need to know is that I'm from the future doctor and I know that your serum works on the best man possible chosen for the job, you succeed greatly in this doctor. I know that it's hard to believe but I am from the Australian military and was stationed in America where there was an attack on New York in the year 2012, I was shot at by some weird weapon and ended up in a back alley where two young men found me and took me in and helped me adjust to this time period. You have nothing to fear from me doctor, all I want to do is see that the right man gets the serum and that it won't kill him." She explained.

"You have already said that it works." Erskine reminded her.

"I have said that, yes, but I'm assuming that you are still trying to perfect the serum so that there will never be another Schmidt, so please doctor, what is the success rate right now doctor?" She asked again.

Erskine let out a sigh, "There is only about a 38.7% chance at the moment." He admitted.

Starlyn let out a huff of breath knowing that 38.7% wouldn't be good enough, "That isn't good enough." She whispered.

"I know, but there is nothing more that I can do to make it better than it already is without starting from the beginning again and that is time that we do not have." He explained, "So we're going to have to proceed with the experiment as it is now and just hope that the person I choose is strong enough to with stand the vita rays."

"There is one thing that may help with the experiment." Starlyn said grabbing the letter opener that was on the table and slit her wrist, shocking the doctor in to action to try and stop the blood flow but was stopped by the hand that Starlyn was holding out, "Don't worry doc, I'm fine." She told him.

"You just slit your wrist child, there is nothing fine about that?" He told her in a tizzy.

Starlyn laughed and used her free hand to wipe away the blood, showing that there wasn't even a cut left behind, "I'm fine doctor."

Erskine sat down on the edge of his desk heavily, staring in disbelief at the woman sitting in front of him, "What are you?" He questioned.

Starlyn shrugged, "Human, but with an evolved gene that makes it possible for me or others like me to have a mutation, mine is being able to regenerate while someone else's may be telepathy or controlling fire, being able to fly that sort of thing." She explained, "Now if you can get the regeneration part of my DNA and add it to the serum than maybe you'll be able to change the survival rate of the serum, but you must not tell anyone else about this."

"You have my word child." Erskine responded solemnly.

"Well then doctor, we have a job to do before you actually give that serum to someone." She said standing with a smile now knowing why she was really here, she was here to give Steve the best chance to survive the change.

"Indeed we do my dear, let me get my equipment and we'll draw some blood and we can get started." He said as giddy as a school girl and grabbed what was needed to draw some blood from his new doctor to make his serum hopefully work to its fullest potential.

* * *

"I don't see what the problem is. You're about to be the most eligible man in New York." Bucky reminded Steve since he was still bummed about not getting in. Bucky was bummed that Steve would be one of the most eligible men in New York instead of him, "You know there's three and a half million women here?"

"Well, I'd settle for just one." Steve responded.

"Good thing I took care of that." Bucky said raising a hand and waving to a pair of ladies standing by a statue.

"Hey Bucky." One called back.

"What'd you tell her about me?" Steve questioned.

"Only the good stuff." Bucky said with a smirk.

Steve and Bucky walked into the Expo, a woman on each of Bucky's arms, both of them ignoring Steve, even though one of the women was supposed to be his date that Bucky had procured for him but as usual he was ignored not that he really cared, he cared more about getting in to the Army to help the war effort right now.

The girls looked over to where the stage was set up, excitement on their faces, "Oh my God! It's starting!" They cheered and pulled Bucky to the stage leaving Steve trailing behind them.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Howard Stark!"_ Was announced over the P.A system.

The four of them watched as Howard Stark walked onto the stage, kissing one of the girls as he took the microphone from her and waved to the crowd, a beautiful red car sitting behind him, " _Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground at all?"_ He announced as the girls took the obvious fake tyres from the wheel brace of the car and Howard moved over to the control panel, " _With Stark Gravitic Reversion Technology you'll be able to do just that."_ He explained to an awed crowd.

Steve walked over to Bucky's side and stood on tiptoes so he could talk to him, "Starlyn never mentioned anything like that."

"Then I guess that it isn't possible." Bucky responded with a shrug, "But wouldn't it be something else."

They watched as Stark powered up the machine and watched in awe as the car actually floated about a foot from the ground and hovered before it started to spark and came down it a giant wham and the gravity generators blew up. " _I did say a few years didn't I."_ Stark played off as there was a round of applause.

"Hey Steve, what do you say we treat these girls…" Bucky trailed off as he saw that Steve was no longer standing with them, "Damn it Steve." He hissed under his breath as he caught sight of a recruitment poster and knew where his wayward friend was heading but he couldn't leave the two girls to themselves so he did his gentlemanly duties and stayed with both girls.

* * *

Steve walked up the steps to the recruitment office where he would try once again to join up and join Bucky and Starlyn in the war effort though he knew that he was going to probably be rejected again but it was just something that he had to do.

Steve walked over to a light projection booth where the light came on and you would be seen as a soldier, but Steve ended up a little too short to be in the right position when a hand pushed at his shoulder and turned to see Bucky standing there, "Come on. You're kinda missing the point of a double date." Bucky told him, "We're taking the girls dancing."

"You go ahead. I'll catch up with you." Steve responded.

Bucky sighed, "You're really going to do this again?" He questioned.

Steve shrugged, "It's a fair. I'm gunna try my luck."

Bucky put his hands in his pockets, "As who, Steve from Ohio?" He asked, "They'll catch you. Or worse, they'll actually take you." He warned.

"Look, I know that you don't think that I can do this." Steve stated, he knew Bucky's stance on him enlisting.

"This isn't a back alley, Steve. It's war." Bucky interrupted fiercely worried about his friend, he wouldn't be going himself if it wasn't for the fact that he had been drafted, but in true fashion of being Steve's friend, he had told his best friend that he had joined up himself.

Doctor Erskine walked into the recruitment area where he could hear the conversation going on between Steve and Bucky, "Bucky, come on. There are men laying down their lives." Steve said firmly and determined, "I got no right to do any less than them. That's what you don't understand. This isn't about me at all."

Bucky was not happy with that, "Right. 'Cause you got nothing to prove."

Erskine liked what he was hearing from the slim young man arguing with the soldier in front of him, "That is Steve Rogers." Came the soft voice of Starlyn from behind him.

"You know him?"

"He's my brother and the one he's arguing with is this best friend and brother in all but blood Sergeant James Barnes, he's shipping out tomorrow with the 107th." She explained.

"He's the one isn't he?"

Starlyn gave a little giggle, "That's for you to ultimately decide doc."

"Hey Sarge, are we still going dancing?" The girls called over.

Bucky turned his attention back to the girls with a forced smile, "Yes we are." He responded and started to back away from Steve, "Don't do anything stupid till I get back or Starlyn will kill me."

"How can I?" Steve responded, "You're taking all the stupid with you." Hearing this Starlyn had to stifle the burst of giggles that were wanting to fill the area, she buried her face in an amused Erskine's back to do that.

Bucky shook his head and came back to Steve, "You're a punk." He said pulling the smaller teen in to a hug.

"Jerk." Steve responded fondly, "Be careful." He said as Bucky walked off, "Don't win the war till I get there." He threw in as though it was an afterthought and Bucky turned around to give Steve a salute before going off with the girls to dance and Steve wondered off in to the enlistment not noticing Starlyn and Erskine watching him go, a faint smile was on Erskine's lips as he followed after the young man with Starlyn in tow.

* * *

Steve watched in confusion as he pulled his sleeve down after they had taken blood to the nurse that came in and was talking hurriedly with the doctor, "Wait here." The doctor said as he closed his file and walked out of the waiting area.

"Is there a problem?" Steve questioned before the doctor left.

"Just wait here." The doctor responded and left.

Steve started to feel a little nervous and looked behind him to the sign that said 'It is illegal to falsify your enlistment form.' And quickly moved to grab his jacket and shoes to get the hell out of dodge before the M.P's came and arrested him.

A giggle broke him out of his panic, "Chillax Stevie." A familiar voice spoke up curbing his panic.

"What are you doing here?" Steve questioned, relief evident in his voice and body.

"Like is said Stevie, chill." Starlyn said walking in and taking a seat on the bed with little effort, making sure that her skirt wouldn't rise above her knees like a proper 1940's lady.

Steve's attention turned from Starlyn to the older man that came through the curtain with an M.P behind him closing the curtain, he looked back at Starlyn a little out of sorts. "So, you want to go overseas. Kill some Nazis?" Erskine questioned as he opened the folder that was in his hands.

"Excuse me?" Steve questioned perplexed.

"Dr. Abraham Erskine and you obviously know my assistant." He introduced moving over to Steve to shake his hand, "I represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve."

"Steve Rogers." Steve responded standing.

Erskine walked over to the bed and put the folder down next to Starlyn and flipped through it once more actually reading through what was in there, "Where are you from?" Steve questioned curiously.

"Queens. 73rd Street and Utopia Parkway." Erskine responded dead pan and Starlyn giggled, "Before that, Germany." Steve didn't say anything, "This troubles you?"

"No." Steve responded.

"Where are you from Mister Rogers?" Erskine questioned as he slid his finger down the file, "Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Five exams in five different cities."

"That might not be the right file." Steve interrupted.

"Hush Steve." Starlyn scolded.

"No, do not worry, it's not the exams that I am interested in." Erskine told him, "It's the five tries." He said picking up the folder and coming back to stand in front of Steve, "But you didn't answer my question. Do you want to kill Nazis?"

Steve looked over at Starlyn and then back to Erskine, "Is this a test?"

"Yes."

Steve took a breath, "I don't want to kill anyone. I just don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from." He said with conviction.

Erskine nodded and shared a look with Starlyn, "Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is the little guy." He explained, "I can offer you a chance." He said opening the curtain, "Only a chance."

"I'll take it." Steve said moving quickly to follow Erskine with Starlyn following behind him.

"Good." Erskine stated moving to grab the rubber stamp in front of him, "So where is the little guy from? Actually?"

Steve had a slight smile, "Brooklyn."

Erskine slammed the stamp down on the file and handed it closed to Steve, "Congratulations soldier." He said walking off leaving a stunned Steve behind with a smiling Starlyn.

"Well are you going to have a look?" She questioned.

Steve braced himself as he opened the file and there in black ink was a stamped '1A' instead of the usual '4F' that he had gotten so used to seeing, "What's going on?" He questioned Starlyn, turning to her to get answers.

"Sorry brother dearest, can't tell you but as of now you are a part of the United States Army and are going to be shipped out to boot camp pretty soon." She responded, "So let's go get a milkshake or something." She said and started to pull him from the recruitment office and over to the food pavilion to grab said milkshakes.

"We should find Bucky, I should tell Bucky." Steve mumbled, still in a state of disbelief that he had been accepted.

"Bucky has two dames on his arms Steve, he's going to be quite distracted for the rest of the evening making sure that they have fun." Starlyn said, "Now come on slow poke, I wanna shake."


	5. Off to boot camp

Hey guys here is yet another chapter for you. I hope it's okay and you're satisfied with this chapter. Please, please let me know what you think of how I am going with my story.

Please keep reading guys and enjoy what I have written for you, hopefully I will have a new chapter up soon. PS thank you for well wishes.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Bucky had shipped out and Starlyn had been pissed that he had told them the wrong time so that they wouldn't be able to see him off, it took a lot for Steve to calm the woman from hunting down Bucky and ripping him a new one. It was only because of the letter that they had received that she had calmed down as Bucky explained that when he saw them next he would apologise in person with milkshakes and that he was okay and that the 107th were heading out toward Azzano to try and gain that back for the Allied forces.

But neither Rogers had been idle, Starlyn had been helping out Steve with some training though his health problems did cause some trouble but it wasn't anything that Starlyn couldn't handle with helping Steve recover from an asthma attack or when he had gotten a cold. In a couple of days the pair of them would be heading out to Camp Lehigh for boot camp, well boot camp for Steve and the med tent for Starlyn whilst waiting for Erskine to make his final decision but she knew that it would be Steve, it would be stupid to choose anyone else.

"Do you have everything packed Steve?" Starlyn questioned walking into his room.

"I don't have much so there really wasn't all that much to pack." Steve responded waving a hand over to where two bags were sitting on the bed.

"Soon you'll learn to live out of your bag Steve, it's what I've had to do before." Starlyn said sitting down on the bed.

"What do you mean you've had to live out of your bag before?" Steve questioned.

"I was in the Army before coming back in time Stevie, you will learn to pack light but right." Starlyn explained, "Now let's go to the cinema 'cause it'll be a while before we get to see another film." She said jumping up from the bed and pulled Steve behind her, grabbing their coats as they hurried out the door.

After the movie the pair grabbed a pizza to take home and eat and Starlyn could see the nervousness that was present in Steve as they sat down, "You have nothing to worry about Steve, I'll be right there with you." She told him firmly.

"Is that something you know from the future or something?" Steve questioned.

Starlyn laughed, "No, I just know that you'll be fine because I'll be with you and then once we meet back up with Bucky the band will be back together."

Steve let out a soft laugh at the announcement, "Yeah, it'd be good to be back together." He said.

"Try not to worry too much okay Steve, we'll all get through this war okay, we'll get through this." She said taking Steve's hand in hers and giving it a squeeze putting everything comforting into that hold.

"I should probably double check I have everything." Steve muttered once he was finished eating.

Starlyn shook her head, "Don't you worry about that Steve, bring your bags out here and I'll go through and check them while you get your sleep, cause trust me, sleep will never be the same again." She told him knowing that it would be difficult to go through morning reveille when you're not used to it.

"Thanks Starlyn." Steve muttered and did just that before heading to bed and passing out.

Starlyn turned the radio on low and started to go through everything that was in Steve's bags and making sure that he had everything he needed and got rid of what he didn't need in his pack to put in her pack afterwards. She just really hoped that Bucky was doing alright and keeping himself out of trouble.

* * *

' _Shit, shit, shit, shit.'_ Bucky chanted as he ran for the only standing building near him that was clear, dodging the bullets that were whizzing past him, it'd only been two weeks and he had been shot at left, right and centre, the whole platoon had and they were running out of men fast. Some had been killed while others were injured and sequestered at the base hospital injured or dying while the rest of them were being continuously shot at and they hadn't even reached Azzano yet.

"Fine day for a fire fight right Barnes?" Dugan yelled to Bucky as he shot back at those that were shooting at them.

"You're on the wrong side of sane Dugan." Bucky responded as he took out a couple of sharp shooters that were stationed on the roof across from where they were bunkered down giving the other soldiers enough time to take cover somewhere safe or at least safer than where they had been.

"We're all on the wrong side of sane for still being here." Dugan responded as he ducked a shot that came at him.

"R.P.G!" Came the yelled as one of the missiles came toward where Bucky and Dugan were hiding causing them to have to vacate where they had situated themselves and find somewhere else to take cover until they could gain some ground and take out some more Nazis so that they could have a little bit of a break but it wasn't looking good right now.

"Jesus, we really need some back up." Gabe Jones commented as he fiddled with the radio to try and get a line out to see if there was any possible way of getting some ground or even air support so that they could get a leg up but he wasn't having much luck.

"Yeah well if I don't get my ass outta this I got one very pissed off woman coming after me." Bucky explained to them as he reloaded his rifle.

"You afraid of a dame Barnes?" Dugan asked.

"If you knew her, you'd be afraid of her too. She told me if I died she'd find a way to bring me back just to kill me herself and knowing Starlyn she'd be able to do it too." Bucky told them, "That is one dame I would never cross and if you ever get the pleasure, don't call her a dame." He warned.

"No woman could be that bad." Gabe commented.

"Don't get me wrong boys, she's a great gal, beautiful, funny, can take a crude joke and turn it around on you and if she has to can kick ass. Starlyn is the whole package but you seriously wouldn't want to mess with her." Bucky told them between bursts of gunfire.

"You sound smitten Barnes."

"Yeah, well if you ever get to see her, you'll know why." Bucky responded, "I really wouldn't be surprised if we see her soon at one of the med bases."

"She's a nurse?" Dugan asked excitedly, the boys loved to ogle the nurses when they were able to see them, being that they were the only females around.

"Yeah, one hell of a nurse, she'd be the one stuffing your guts back in." Bucky said with a laugh, "What about you boys, got a dame back home?"

"Nah, not as lucky as you are mate." Gabe responded and let out a cheer when he finally got through to someone, "This is the 107th we're pinned down, we need support, over." He quickly got through the radio.

" _Support incoming in 20, make sure to mark the area for bombing with a flare, over._ " Came the response.

"Roger that, air support, use flare for designation for bombing over." Gabe repeated.

" _Affirmative, over._ "

"Area will be indicated in 15, over and out." Gabe responded and the boys in the building with the three of them let out small sighs of relief for the support.

"Alright, who's got the flares?" Bucky questioned the men.

"Here sir." Private Johnson called out throwing the flares over to Bucky.

"When the time comes, make sure that you cover my ass." Bucky ordered as he made sure he had enough ammo and the rifle was loaded before he went out and put up the marker.

"And you think I'm crazy." Dugan muttered.

"Well are you going to do it?" Bucky questioned him.

"No way in hell." Dugan responded as he returned fire once more.

"There you go then." It was Bucky's job, he didn't want it but he wasn't going to have some kid do a job that a sergeant wouldn't do themselves so there was nothing to it, he just hoped to God that he would come back in once piece.

"Alright, they should be coming, you better haul ass." Gabe said looking up from his watch to Bucky.

"On three boys." He called out, "One, two, THREE." He yelled and took off out the door with the others giving him cover as he got to where he would be somewhat safe from Nazi gun fire so he could throw out the flares, Bucky lit the first one, popped up and threw the flare to the left and a burning sensation as he ducked back down to light the next flare and then popped up again and threw it to the right.

Bucky waited, as close to the ground as he could until the bombs had been dropped, there was no way he was going to get back to the others until the Nazis had been taken care of, the first of the explosions caused Bucky to cuss as he ducked his head, that bomb had gone down a little too close to where he was hiding. He poked his head up and looked between where the others were and where he was and decided to take the chance as the whistling of the other bomb sounded. Bucky bolted toward the yelling Dugan and just before he made it the bomb hit, the aftershock sending Bucky the rest of the way into the building.

Bucky moaned and coughed as he sat up with the help of Gabe and Dugan, "Did it work?" He questioned.

"We'll find out in a moment." Dugan responded as Gabe moved back over to the radio to see if they get any new orders, "You doing alright?" He questioned.

Bucky moved a hand over to where he had felt the burning sensation and pulled his hand away to see some blood left behind, "Help me get my shit off." He groaned out to Dugan as he struggled with taking off his ammo pack, Dugan moved over to help Bucky out and once they got down to the shirt they pulled it open to see that Bucky had been shot twice. Bucky let out a laugh, "Starlyn and Steve are going to kill me." He mumbled as he laid back down.

"Don't you go to sleep buddy, we'll get ya back to camp to get you fixed up." Dugan told him, lightly slapping his cheek to keep him awake, "Gabe what's the chatter?" He questioned as he pulled out some bandages to stop the blood flow.

"We got evac coming for us." Gabe responded.

"Well tell 'em Barnes is down." Dugan told him and watched as Gabe did just that, "Hang on mate, it won't be long now." He told Bucky.

"If there's a fierce looking blonde with red highlights at the med tent then run with me the other way." Bucky told Dugan, "She'll finish me off for sure."

"I doubt it mate, she'll probably just be glad that you're alive." Dugan responded patting Bucky on the shoulder, trying to tell him he'd be fine.

The group waited in their hiding place until the humming of vehicles could be heard coming up the road, Private Johnson poked his head up to the window and saw that it was their vehicles that were coming their way, "Our ride's here." He called out to the other men and they all gathered up, those that were okay helped the wounded get to the trucks and once all were loaded the trucks took off back to the base where they could recoup for a few days before going out again and actually take Azzano.

* * *

Starlyn hurried around the base hospital, there were far too many wounded for all that medical personnel that were there so everyone was put into categories where the most serious were taken care of first. Medical supplies were also running low, they were running out faster than they were getting them and substitutes had to be found, like coconut water being used as a rehydration fluid for those that aren't as wounded. Too many bodies were coming in and not enough whole ones were going out.

"We've got more incoming." One of the nurses yelled out throughout the tent and this caused a flurry of new activity from the nurses and doctors who were throwing out orders left, right and centre for the nurses to make sure that they had sanitised equipment for surgeries, bandages, stitches and antiseptic where readied.

"Anyone know what squad?" One of the nurses questioned.

"Looks to be the 107th." The nurse that came running in told her hurriedly.

Starlyn's heart skipped a beat, Bucky Barnes had better not be one of those wounded or she would slap him silly. Taking a deep breath she rushed outside, the injured were already getting out of the trucks, Starlyn was the one that determined where they went in order of importance, "Alright let's go, let's go." She called to the other nurses as the soldiers came toward her and the nurses gave them a coloured card to indicate the seriousness of their injuries, "Help them to where they are colour coordinated, anyone with a head injury you make sure to keep them awake." She ordered and watched as everyone moved to where they needed to go.

Starlyn's attention turned to where two men were carrying a body between them, his head was sagging, chin to chest as the two supporting him raced over to her, "He's been shot, twice." She was told by the man with a bushy red moustache. Starlyn moved over to them quickly and started checking his stats it wasn't until she lifted the chin to see the face that her jaw dropped and she let the head fall from her grip.

"Jesus fucking Christ James." She hissed and cuffed him over the head softly which caused Bucky's head to snap up and bleary eyes looked at her.

"Shit." Bucky groaned and let his head fall again, "I told you guys if you saw an angry female blonde with red highlights to run the other way." He groaned to Gabe and Dugan.

Starlyn huffed, her hands on her hips, "You should remember what I'm like when I'm angry James and I am the farthest thing from angry right now." She sighed, "Steve's was right, you did bring all the stupid with you." Starlyn checked out the wound, checking his lungs to make sure that one of the bullets hadn't clipped it as that would push him up in line and then moved around to the back to check for exit wounds and only found one so that meant that the other bullet was still inside, "Right, got one through and through and the other bullet is still inside and I have to warn you know, we are _very_ low on morphine." She explained to Bucky.

"Alright doll." Bucky lazily responded.

"Get him to the red zone, he's a priority because of the lodged bullet but we have a few more that have very serious wounds that need to be taken care of first." She explained, "Make sure you stay with him, try your best to keep him awake and keep changing the dressing to minimise blood loss and infection. Can you do that?" She questioned the two men.

"You got it ma'am." Gabe responded, "I'm Gabe Jones, this is Timothy Dugan." He introduced and started walking off to the red zone, causing Dugan and Bucky to follow.

Starlyn let out a breath and hurried off to the med tent so that she could get started on helping people become as whole as a few of them could be and back out on the field as soon as possible and those that couldn't would be sent home with a discharge.

It was hours and many bodies later that Starlyn could finally take a breath and go outside to check on how many more soldiers that they had to look at and help, those that only needed wounds cleaned and or stitched they were done by the nurses and the men sent off to the mess to eat and then their barracks to rest, injuries that went up from there until it came to those that needed surgery and they had all gone first, all except one was still sitting in the red area.

"James Buchanan Barnes, what the hell are you still sitting here for, you should have come through ages ago." She reprimanded as she came over to the three men, Gabe and Dugan had stayed with him the entire time.

"The idiot let everyone else go before him." Gabe explained.

"Shuddup." Bucky slurred, "'M okay."

"You could have internal bleeding James." Starlyn scolded, "You needed to be attended to as well." She said shaking her head, "I am so telling Steve."

Bucky groaned, "Please don't, you know what Steve is like."

Starlyn barked a laugh, "Yeah no shit, just be lucky you ain't dead James or not even the Devil himself could stop me from coming after you for being stupid."

"Yes ma'am." Bucky mumbled.

"I'll be right back." She said and headed back to the med tent to prepare for Bucky's surgery.

"Damn Bucky, she really is one fine dame." Dugan muttered as he watched Starlyn walk off.

"I told you not to call her a dame." Bucky reminded.

"Ain't like she can hear me." Dugan responded.

"Can't say I didn't tell you so."

Starlyn came back out with a couple of men and a stretcher, "Get your ass on the stretcher Sergeant." She ordered and then looked back to Dugan, "And you should have taken the advice James gave you Dugan, 0830 tomorrow you are going to have a full physical." She said and then walked away after Bucky leaving behind a disgruntled Dugan and laughing Gabe.

Starlyn let out a groan as she flopped down on her bunk, her feet ached from standing and running about for so long and even with her regeneration it felt like her fingers were about to fall off from the curled position they had taken around scalpel and needle but at least, with proper care, every man would live through their physical wounds, mental wounds, well that was something different and not exactly what she was trained for. At least Bucky was okay and was going to heal quickly from the wound, luckily he hadn't had any internal bleeding that could have made things difficult.

"Rogers." A call came from outside the tent.

"Enter." She called back.

"You have orders." The M.P told her handing over the letter.

"Thank you." She said taking the letter and giving it a read through, "Alright, I'll be ready in 15." She told him and went about packing what little was out of her bag as the M.P left to make sure the transport was ready for her, Starlyn hurried about and then, with her bag, headed to the head doctor to let him know what was going on before heading over to where Bucky was camped out with Dugan and Gabe.

"Hey doll." Bucky spoke up as he saw her coming, his voice hoarse, "You heading somewhere?"

"Hey Bucky, yes I'm heading off to the next camp where a whole new slew of wounded await me." Starlyn fibbed as she took a knee in front of Bucky and pulled up his shirt to check on the wound quickly.

"Everything look ok Doc?" Bucky questioned.

"Well I would have preferred if you hadn't of been shot in the first place but what happens, happens. Though if you do get shot again I'll bring Stevie with me, you know he's got the kicked puppy look down pat, so that he can guilt trip the hell outta you." She warned him.

Bucky gave a small laugh, "I'll try my best doll."

"Please do Bucky, Steve would be beside himself if he lost you, you're his best friend, his brother. If Steve lost you I don't know what would happen." She said, her voice pleading with him.

Bucky pulled Starlyn into a hug, being careful not to hurt himself further, and he held her as tightly as he could, "I swear to you that I will try to stay in one piece. Where should I send your letters?" He told her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay, you had better. Send them to Steve at Camp Lehigh, I'll be heading back that way soon. I'll see you around Bucky. Oh and Dugan, 0830 tomorrow you still have that full physical." She said giving a sly wink to Bucky and then gave him another one of those sweet, but brief, kiss on the lips before she had to hurry off to her transport.

Bucky smiled goofily as he watched her run off, she had done it again and he didn't think that she realised that she was doing that each time that they had seen each other off, before the war and even now. He was startled out of his thoughts when he received a slap on the back from Dugan.

"See, told you, completely smitten." Dugan laughed with Gabe joining in, laughing even harder when Bucky blushed.


	6. Starlyn can't stand the pricks at camp

Here is a new chapter for you guys. Just to let you know, Wolverine will come into the story at around chapter 12, so there's still a bit to go before you get to 'see' him.

I would also like to thank **Locket1** , **Xenocannan** , **Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967** and **Brazilwolf.** You guys have been my biggest supporters and i really thank you for your reviews and for reading my story.

Also to give you guys a little bit of a time line, chapter 10 is where Steve is going to get the Serum so everything will start going a little faster from there. So chapters after that will start to have some action.

Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think.

 **PS let me know what you think of the following:**

Should Starlyn go into the ice with Steve **OR  
** Should Starlyn stay awake and help out Peggy and Howard?

* * *

Starlyn let out a sigh as she finally made it to Camp Lehigh where she was supposed to have been a week ago with Steve but they had needed extra hands out near Azzano for the influx of wounded that they had received from their men trying to gain ground on getting to Azzano. As she stepped out of the truck there was a woman waiting for her, her dark brown hair curled smartly and styled nicely and her uniform was crisp compared to how Starlyn was looking, her hair was a mess and her clothing crumpled with some blood still lingering.

"First Lieutenant Rogers, I am Agent Peggy Carter of the SSR." She greeted with a crisp salute that Starlyn lazily returned and offered a hand to shake.

"Pleasure Agent Carter, but before we begin anything do you think that it's possible that I am able to have a quick shower and change into something a little less bloody?" Starlyn questioned as they began to walk.

Peggy nodded, "Of course, we wouldn't want you to scare away the recruits."

"Least we would be able to see who has the right metal for the job." Starlyn responded as Peggy stopped at the shower tent.

"Ten minutes." Peggy told her and waited at the door, knowing that the men would try to get in if there was a woman in the showers and word of a new woman on base would quickly spread like wild fire through the men.

Starlyn hurried in with her bag, pulling out a clean slightly wrinkled uniform and put it on the bench and grabbed her towel and hurried through her shower, getting the grime and blood that was still on her skin before drying off and getting dressed, smoothing out the last few wrinkles that remained before grabbing a brush and throwing it up in a ponytail and leaving the tent, "Ready when you are Agent Carter." She said and the pair headed off through the camp once again, a soldier joining them with a box full of clipboards.

"So what's been going on the last week?" Starlyn questioned.

"Basic boot camp, we're going to pick it up now that you are here." Peggy explained, "You needed to be here for the process so we've just been running drills to make sure that they were at their peak."

Starlyn silently groaned, she knew Steve would have had trouble with the drills but he had a lot of determination in such a small body, "Right well we'd better get the ball rolling then, we haven't got much time." She responded.

"Recruits, attention." Peggy called as the pair walked around to stand in front of the man standing there, "Gentlemen, I am Agent Carter, this is First Lieutenant Rogers who is also going to be your personal nurse for the course of this program, if you have any injuries or ailments you go to her. We supervise all operations for this division." She explained as the soldier following handed out the clipboards. A couple of the soldiers threw Steve a quick glance which he ignores.

"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria?" One of the more cocky soldiers questioned, Peggy and Starlyn stopped in front of him, "I thought I was signing up for the U.S Army."

"What's your name soldier?" Peggy asked, not a single change in her voice of expression and Starlyn had to stifle any change in her expression having had a feeling of how things were about to go.

"Gilmore Hodge, Your Majesty."

"Step forward Hodge." Peggy ordered and Hodge swaggered forward, "Put your right foot forward."

"We gonna wrassle?" Hodge questioned as he did as ordered, "'Cause I've got a few moves I know you'll like." He said giving her a wink only to be sucker punched in response and going down like a lead balloon.

"Let this be a lesson to you all, you do not talk unless you are spoken to first or ordered to. This is the Army, you no longer have the privilege to run your mouth without repercussions." Starlyn spoke up with a militaristic tone to her voice.

"Agent Carter, First Lieutenant Rogers!" A commanding tone called from behind.

"Colonel Phillips." Peggy and Starlyn turned to the man and saluted.

"I can see that you are breaking in the candidates. That's good!" He said as he came over to have a look at the recruits, "Get your ass up out of that dirt and stand in line at attention till somebody comes tells you what to do." He told Hodge who moved quickly to stand.

"Yes Sir!" Hodges said standing to attention.

"General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons, but they are won by men." He started with his speech walking up the line of men, "We are going to win this war because we have the best men." He kind of paused as he looked at Steve who was easily the smallest of the men in line he threw a look at both Erskine and Starlyn for their choice, "And because they are going to get better. Much Better." He said walking off down the line again.

Starlyn already knew that Colonel Phillips was doubtful of Steve being there since he was physically unable to be there by normal means and was only there by the saving grace of Erskine that he was able to get in. But she knew that Steve's tenacity and determination would be what would get him through the entire process.

"You men were chosen for something special and only the person that is chosen will be briefed on the next steps that you will take. You need to be at your absolute best during your training, not just of the body but of the mind as well. First Lieutenant Rogers will be taking you one at a time for a full physical, yes I know that you have all already had one but this is her show when it comes to your health so it'd be best that you listen to her and to Agent Carter when you are addressed, there are no men or women here, we are all soldiers no matter where in the world we come from and we are here to bring down the Nazi regime." Colonel Phillips stated firmly, "So get over yourselves." He said, "The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an Allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Or goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man. At the end of this week, we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of soldier. And they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of hell." He explained to the men passionately and then walked back over to his truck, "They're all yours ladies." He threw over to Peggy and Starlyn.

"Do we have our own area Dr. Erskine?" Starlyn questioned.

"Of course my dear, everything is all ready for you." He responded with a smile and pointing in the direction of where the tent was located.

"Left face." Starlyn ordered and the men looked a little odd at her, all except Steve who knew what she was talking about and turned to the left and seeing him do it the men to his right turned to mimic him leaving the others still standing facing Starlyn, Peggy and Dr. Erskine, "Left face means that you turn your asses to face the left." Starlyn snapped pointing to where they should be facing and the men finally turned to the left, "After you doctor." She said to Erskine holding out a leading arm for the older man to go first, "March." She ordered and the men marched off after the good doctor, "These pricks are going to kill me." She muttered and Peggy let out a laugh but covered it with a cough and followed after the doctor and men.

Starlyn walked into the Med tent where all of the soldiers files were waiting with specialised medical forms just for this experiment, she shuffled through until she came to Steve's file and placed it on the bottom so that she would be able to speak with him at length and let him know that she had seen Bucky and that he was fine, whether she told Steve about Bucky being shot was something different altogether.

Opening the flap, Starlyn called for the first of the soldiers to enter and got started, ignoring the lust filled looks and words of innuendo she got them out quickly and efficiently before moving on to the next. About an hour and a half later she had gotten through all of the men but Steve.

"Rogers." She called and Steve stumbled in, looked like his boots may be a little too large for him, "Are your boots too big?" She questioned as he sat down and took off his helmet.

"Only a little bit." Steve responded, "How are you?"

Starlyn smiled and gave Steve a kiss on the forehead, "I'm fine brother dear, and I also have some news."

"Oh, what's that?" He questioned, "You're not leaving again are you?"

Starlyn laughed, "No I'm not leaving, but while I was gone I managed to see Bucky." She explained and saw Steve straighten at the mention of her seeing his best friend.

"How is he? Is he okay?"

"He's fine Stevie, still walking though I will tell you now, he did get shot, and that's how I ended up being able to see him. I think that if it wasn't for that I would never had seen him." Starlyn explained and held up a hand to stall anything Steve was going to say, "He really is fine Steve, the bullets didn't hit anything vital or nick any arteries or organs, it was just a quick stitch job and that's all I promise."

Steve let out a breath, "I told him he'd take all the stupid with him." He muttered angrily.

"I said that to him too." Starlyn told him, "But how much of the conversation stuck before he went in for surgery remains to be known."

"Surgery?" Steve squeaked, "But you said he was okay."

Starlyn rolled her eyes, "He is okay dummy, just one of the bullets didn't pass all the way through so we had to dig it out and then stitch him up, it's all pretty routine."

"Okay." Steve said, "Are you going to do my medical now?" He asked.

"No need for me to, I already know everything there is to know medically about you, I just wanted to talk to you without the men ogling me and then questioning you about everything." Starlyn explained.

"Well I don't plan on saying anything." Steve responded, "I'm not here to socialise, I'm here to help in the war effort."

"I know Stevie, now get outta here and I'll try and sit with you at dinner." She told him and shoved him out of the tent, "And I'll get ya some new shoes." She muttered and watched as Steve went off with the rest of the men whom were being led by Peggy to start their advanced training for the Soldier-Serum procedure.

* * *

Starlyn sighed as she schlepped her ass to the mess hall for dinner and saw Steve pretty much sitting by himself even though there was quite a few men sitting there with him, but they were all chatting amicably with each other leaving out the smaller man from their conversations. Grabbing her mess slop she headed over to where Steve was sitting and plonked down next to him startling everyone at the table.

"You look beat." Steve spoke up as Starlyn started eating.

"I've joined your club then Stevie 'cause you look just as beat as I do." She responded looking him over, "Oh and by the way, I got ya shoes that'll fit, that'll make things easier when you're going through training."

"Thank you." Steve said throwing her a smile, "What are you doing with your time?"

"Honestly, absolutely nothing right now and I am freaking bored." She moaned letting her head hit the table with a thunk, "All I do is potter around the area that is set up for both Erskine and I." She explained, her voice muffled by the crappy wood table.

Steve laughed, "You should ask if you can join us on the course." He whispered, "It'd be something to see when you leave all these guys in the dust."

Starlyn laughed too, "That would be hilarious." She agreed, "Any way, I'm going to walk about with Agent Carter after you lot 'cause I'm bored." She told him.

Steve shrugged, "You'll be able to see me fail spectacularly at everything then." He muttered playing with his mash.

"Just remember what Bucky and I taught you Stevie and you'll be fine." She reminded him, the whole time that they were conversing the rest of the table were talking in hushed whispers and throwing the pair of them looks, "Not that it's any of your business but he is my brother." She snapped, "So keep your nose outta business that it has no business being in." And with that, the men stopped talking and turn their attention back to each other and not Steve and Starlyn, "Bloody nosey parkers." She grumbled before turning back to Steve, "That'll be around the base soon." She grumbled.

"I don't care, let them think what they want to think and talk about whatever it is that they want to talk about." Steve responded, he's had people belittling him and teasing him about his size this whole teen and adult life so he was used to it, not that it made the words hurt any less.

"Well it's gunna be their loss for not getting to know the fabulous Steve." She whispered to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Just keep being yourself and you'll be surprised at what you can do."

Steve smiled at Starlyn, "I think that I can do that." He told her and they finished their dinner before heading off to their separate quarters for the night.

"Night big brother." She called after him causing everyone to turn and look at them startled by the proclamation and most of the soldiers couldn't believe the hot new doctor was related to the scrawny ass soldier that shouldn't be there.

Steve shook his head and went off to the barracks with a smile on his face, really ready to face the coming days. Steve sat down on his bed, his suitcase sitting on the bed opened next to him as he pulled out his books and set them down on the bedside table that was next to his bunk, the other man that he shared with were rough housing with each other.

Soon a couple of the men were sitting down on the bed across from Steve, each of the men looking at him, Steve looked back at them, "Is there something that I can help you with?" Steve questioned the men, at this moment in time, everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen in on the conversation.

"You can tell us about the dame you were talking to in the mess." One of them said to him.

"One, don't call her a dame or she will probably smack you black and blue." At this statement the men in the barrack laughed, "And two, I don't have to tell you anything about my sister." Steve told them, "You want to find something out about her, go and ask her yourself."

One of the men sat forward threating, "We're asking you runt."

Steve just looked blankly at them, "And I'm not telling you anything because my sister is none of your business."

Another of the men grabbed the neck of Steve's shirt and pulled him close, "Do as your told runt and tell us about the tart right now." He ordered Steve.

Even in the position he was in now, Steve balled his fist and threw out a punch at the man that was holding him for calling his sister a tart, good thing that Bucky had taught him how to throw a proper punch, even knowing that he would most likely get the shit kicked outta him for doing it, "Damn punk." The man spat, blood trickling down his chin from Steve's hit. All that practice with Bucky and Starlyn had really helped the impact of his hits.

"Then don't call my sister a tart." Steve snapped as the men pounced on Steve and started throwing punches at the fragile body, the rest of the men in the barracks just standing by watching or cheering on what was happening, all of the noise caught the attention of the patrolling Sergeant Duffy.

"What the hell is going on here?" He snapped, the door slamming against the wall as he threw it open, all of the men scrambled to stand at attention, Steve lagging to do so a little as he was hurt from the assault.

"Nothing at all sir." One of the men that was laying in to Steve spoke up, shifting lightly so that Duffy couldn't see Steve's condition.

Duffy stalked over to where the men were and was able to see what it was they were trying to hide, that being the smallest soldier that Duffy had ever seen, "What's your name boy?" He questioned Steve.

"Steve Rogers sir." Steve responded through his split lip.

"Any relation to First Lieutenant Rogers?" Duffy questioned.

"My younger sister sir."

"So you want to tell me what all this ruckus was about?" Duffy asked wanting to know.

"Defending my sister's honour sir." Steve told him and watched as Duffy moved back to look at all the men contained in the barracks.

"The women of this camp are none of your business unless you are injured, you do not try to find out information from others especially if they do not wish to tell you anything. Do you all understand me?" He yelled throughout the barracks.

"Yes Sir!" Was the echoing yell of the men.

"Rogers, get to the infirmary and get checked out, you're no good to me if you've got something broken." He ordered Steve and watched as he moved out of the barracks slowly as though not to aggravate his injuries any further, "Get your asses to your beds, lights out in 10 minutes." He snapped and left the barracks.

"Little Rogers is going to get it even worse." One of the men snarled as he stomped over to his bed and flopped down on it.

"Well I think that we should all be careful, if we're caught doing something that could compromise our chance at doing this assignment then we will be shipped off to the front lines." The bespectacled soldier spoke up, pushing his glasses up his nose as he looked them all over.

"Shut up Thompson." Was the unanimous call of the soldiers as they all got into their beds, waiting for the lights to go off.

Meanwhile Steve trudged off, not over to the infirmary, but to where Starlyn had pointed out where she was to be staying, knocking on the door Steve waited until it was answered by Agent Carter, she raised an eyebrow at his appearance and had an amused twinkle in her eyes as Steve blushed bright red, probably from the face that she was answering the door in her dressing gown and slippers, "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Could I see Starlyn please?" He questioned softly.

"One moment." Peggy said shutting the door and he could hear muffled, but hurried, footsteps come to the door and then the door was flung open.

"Bloody hell Steve, what happened?" She questioned as she pulled him into the barrack that only held Peggy and herself and got a good look at his injuries and let out a sigh, "You really can't back away from a fight can you?"

Steve shrugged, but winced at the movement, "Well if it means anything, this time it was for defending your honour." He explained to her as she led him to one of the beds and sat him down before going to her foot locker to grab her portable med bag and came back over to Steve and started to clean up the cuts.

"I've told you not to worry too much about what people say about me Steve, I've probably heard much worse that whatever they called me." Starlyn told him.

Steve scowled, "They called you a tart Starlyn and that is something that I will not allow to be said about you. So I hit the guy that said it."

"So you started it?" She questioned surprised, usually someone else threw the first punch at Steve, not the other way around.

"Well the physical part of it, yes." He admitted, "But they still shouldn't have called you a tart just because I didn't want to tell them anything about you."

Peggy looked over at the pair from where she was reading her book, she was surprised that a man like Steve, small and prone to illness, would so readily get beaten up for something that someone else had called his sister. She started to think that perhaps Erskine was right about what he had seen in Steve back at the Stark Expo, she would have to keep a closer eye on the smaller Rogers.

Starlyn shook her head with a fond smile on her face, "Honestly Stevie, what am I going to do with you?" She mused, "I don't know how much trouble I can keep you out of without Bucky."

"I'll try my best to stay out of trouble Starlyn, but it does seem that trouble always finds me somehow. And besides, Bucky got into as much trouble as I did most of the time." He defended.

"Oh I know that." Starlyn agreed as she prodded at Steve's chest and he flinched away from the touch, "Not broken but you are going to be sore for the next few days." She told him and grabbed a roll of bandages and started to wrap it snugly around his chest.

"So they're going to slow me down a little then?" Steve questioned.

"Yeah Stevie, so be careful okay, we don't need you broken before you start." Starlyn told him firmly, "Now come on, I'll walk you back since it's almost lights out and you don't want to be caught out and about." She explained grabbing her boots and changing them over from the slippers on her feet, "Let's go buddy boy." She said, "Be back in a minute Peggy."

Steve and Starlyn headed back to his barracks just as the siren sounded that it was going to be lights out in a couple of minutes, "Alright Stevie, I'll see you in the morning, also feel free to point out the pricks that called me a tart and I'll give 'em a good right hook."

Steve gave a small laugh, "No, that's fine, good night." He said giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek before heading into the barracks to retire to bed.

"Night Stevie." Starlyn said and then headed back to her barracks to also head to sleep for the bright new day ahead.


	7. Must Not KILL Wankers

Here is another chapter for you guys, this is little more about Camp.

Also there is a **POLL on my profile**

I have finally, finally written Bucky and Star's first kiss and by God it took me a while to figure out how to do it but I finally did it, so YAY, though it wont be for a while yet guys and will happen in an unexpected way.

I'm really happy that I've started to write the action type scenes too because it gets things going with the story and gives the group a little action but I have to tell ya they are a little hard to write because I'm not very good at writing actions scenes lol.

Any who, enjoy the chapter my lovlies.

* * *

Starlyn groaned as she woke up and looked at her watch, she still had about half an hour before the reveille sounded throughout the camp and she knew that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep so she got up and got dressed in some clothes that she could work out in, which was just a grunt uniform and pair of boots.

"What are you doing?" Peggy spoke up, startling Starlyn, her hair was set in curlers.

"I'm going to get a work out in before the men wake up and start ogling." She explained.

Peggy seemed to think things over and reached up to start pulling out the curlers, "I think that I'll join you." She said hopping up from the bed and getting dressed into something similar to Starlyn, she would take care of her appearance later after she had showered.

"You sure?" Starlyn questioned, usually no one wanted to join her, not even Steve and Bucky, but that was probably because it was always to damn early to get up.

"It's been a while since I've had someone to work out with." Peggy admitted.

Starlyn let out a sigh of relief, "Thank God, I hate working out alone."

Peggy shot her a smile, "So do I." She agreed and the both of them left their barracks for the training field to get a few laps in before the men wake up and breakfast started.

"Do you really think that your brother can do this?" Peggy questioned as they jogged.

"I do, Steve is very determined and has a lot of heart. He might not end up at the top, but Steve will do anything to make it through all of this." Starlyn explained.

"I suppose I can see that." Peggy acquiesced just as the reveille went off and the two women decided to head back to their barracks to shower and change before heading down to breakfast.

About half an hour or so later, Peggy and Starlyn headed down to the mess together for breakfast, they had jogged up an appetite and were eager to get something in their growling stomachs. "Good morning ladies." The accented voice of Erskine spoke up from behind them, caused both women to turn and look at the good doctor.

"Good morning doctor." Both women chimed, "Heading to breakfast?" Starlyn questioned.

"Yes, and yourselves?"

"Of course doctor, both of us jogged up quite the appetite this morning." Peggy explained as they entered the mess, the smell of bacon and eggs filled the room and mouths definitely watered, breakfast was the only time that they really splurged. The three lined up and were given their breakfast of bacon, eggs and beans on toast before heading over to one of the spare tables, it seemed that most of the men were still getting ready as the siren for breakfast hasn't been sounded so it was rather quite in the mess, only those that are used to the early waking's of the day were there and chowing down.

"So what are the plans for the young men today?" Erskine asked as they ate.

"They're going through the ropes, barb wire and then a nice leisurely jog around the camp." Peggy informed him.

"Ah sounds like a productive day." Erskine beamed, "And yourself Starlyn?"

"Well I'm not going back to where we're set up unless you have something for me to do, I am undoubtedly bored outta my skull." Starlyn responded, "So I was just gunna follow Peggy around."

"Well there isn't much to do this morning but this afternoon Mister Stark will be stopping by to talk about the project." Erskine explained, "So you can join Agent Carter if you so wish. I would like to know what you think about the candidates as well from a stand point other than medically, not that I don't trust you Agent Carter, but I would like to see what someone else would think."

"I can do that for you doctor, and yes, I will try and be biased." She added knowing that others would boast about their family members or lovers and not give others a chance.

"Then I wish the both of you a most productive day." Erskine said taking his tray to the dishes pile and left the mess to go about his business at the camp.

"It's going to be quite boring isn't it?" Starlyn questioned Peggy.

"Undoubtedly." Peggy agreed, "But at least we get to stand there and look pretty while doing it with a clip board in hand."

Starlyn gave a nod, "That is so very true." She said with a bright smile which quickly diminished when the men from Steve's barracks walked in with Steve trailing behind them, "Pricks." She grumbled shocking Peggy with her language.

"I'm going to have to get used to your random bouts of cussing aren't I?" Peggy questioned Starlyn.

"Yeppers." Starlyn agreed, "It can get some what worse as well Peggy, sometimes I can swear like a sailor." She explained, "It shocks everyone."

"As it should." Peggy exclaimed, "It is not the best way for a lady to act."

Starlyn shrugged, "It's just who I am Peggy. But I'll only really swear if things get outta control or someone really ticks me off." She explained.

"Alright then." Was all Peggy could come back with, "Let's ditch the trays and head out, we'll need to get the files before the boys join us out on the training field." She said picking up her tray and taking it over to the other dirty trays and headed out, Starlyn close on her heels.

The soldiers had an hour for breakfast before they had to be out on the field, but Steve ate his meal in a timely fashion and then headed back to the barracks to grab his gear and headed over to the training field to wait for the rest of the men to join him there. There was no way that he was going to be late to anything, even if it means just waiting around doing nothing for the next little while.

"What are you doing here already Stevie?" Starlyn questioned as she and Peggy arrived at the training grounds.

"I'd rather be here early than risk being late." Steve responded, "Besides, when have I ever needed a whole hour to eat? Especially breakfast." He questioned Starlyn.

Starlyn nodded, "True enough." She agreed and sat down next to him to wait for the others to join them, "Are you ready for this?" She asked.

"Not really but I want to do this, I need to be able to prove myself to everyone that despite my size I can do this and that I should be here." Steve responded firmly.

"Good." Starlyn said giving him a bright smile, "Just remember with the rope climb, use the part where the heel of your boot is to brace yourself from slipping forward as you climb." She whispered to him and then skipped off to where Peggy was standing, "Oh and for goodness sake be careful of your ribs."

Starlyn was bouncing up and down where she stood by Peggy, the men were 10 minutes late and that did not bode well for any of them and she could see that Peggy was actually getting quite annoyed at the fact.

Finally after another 5 minutes the soldiers ambled onto the field, happily talking among themselves some even laughing as they walked. Finally they had come to a stop near where Steve had been standing at ease for the last 15 minutes.

"Gentlemen." Peggy called out as they hadn't stopped talking and goofing off, her voice at that time could strip steel, or turn coal into diamonds, "This is totally unacceptable, when you are given a time to be somewhere you do not take your time and amble over, you make sure that you are there. This is the Army gentlemen and you no longer run on your time but ours and this will be going on your record. Tardiness in the battlefield will get people killed." She snapped.

"You can't do that." One of the soldiers spoke up, breaking rule number one, don't speak unless spoken to directly.

"Actually we can, this is the Army not a frat house. If you're to be somewhere by 0600 you make sure your ass is there at 0555, not 0615, we have things to do today gentlemen and because of you being late you will more than likely miss dinner." Starlyn growled at the men, "Now unless we speak to you directly we do not want to hear a single word from you."

The men scowled and sneered at that, they definitely did not like the fact that women were the ones that were giving them orders in a man's world, Starlyn knew that it was going to be a little tough on Peggy and herself but it wasn't anything that the pair of them couldn't handle.

Starlyn sneered at the men, "Suck it up ya pussies and listen to your superiors, even if they are women." She snapped, "Now Agent Carter is going to explain to you what is going to happen today cutting into more of your time because you couldn't be here on time and others are also now going to be on the field with you so there is going to be bodies everywhere so make sure that you haul ass through the field."

"As you all know, you are all in a specialised program and we will be assessing you physically, mentally and medically on your performance to see if you will be the one that is chosen. First Lieutenant Rogers and I will be two of the people that will be choosing the right candidate so it would behove you to make sure that you follow all orders given." Peggy spoke as she walked up and down the line of men and Sergeant Duffy joined them at the beginning of the training field, "Sergeant Duffy, if you would?" She asked.

"Alright men, get your asses to the rope climb." He ordered, "Move it, move it." He yelled moving after them, trying to get them to move faster to the rope climb.

Peggy and Starlyn exchanged a look, "It's going to be a very long day." Starlyn muttered and Peggy agreed with a nod before heading off to the rope climb to start filling out the data that they needed to choose the right candidate.

Starlyn watched and winced as Steve got caught hanging upside down in the rope climb with the other men laughing at him as they passed him, "Rogers! Get off of there!" Duffy yelled at Steve while everyone else passed him by, Steve tried his best to get untangled but couldn't do it without any help so Starlyn walked over and began the climb and twisted herself so that she too was hanging upside down with Steve, luckily she had decided on wearing pants today instead of the skirt she should have been wearing, "So, just hanging around?" She questioned looking over at Steve, she could feel the blood rushing to her head.

"Shut up." Steve grumbled in response, "Help me out here."

"Do you want to continue to climb or fall down on your head?" She questioned.

"Climb." Steve responded.

"Alright, well it has everything to do with your stomach muscles, you need to clench them as you flip yourself up. But that is going to hurt a little with your ribs being bruised." She explained as she did just that and just sat there with her legs tucked through the holes and waited for Steve to do the same, it took him a few tries but he got there, "And then just move your legs back to the hole below and then start climbing again." Again she showed him what to do and started to climb the rope with Steve slowly following after her until the both of them were over and down. Starlyn gave Steve a slap on the back and left him to continue on with the course while she went back to where Peggy was standing and Duffy glaring after her for interfering with one of his men.

"I thought you weren't going to be biased." Peggy stated.

Starlyn shrugged, "I would have helped any of the others that it would have happened to if they couldn't figure out how to get back up." She explained, "It just happened to be Stevie that it happened to."

"He's going to have trouble with all of this." Peggy told her factually.

"Yes he is, I know he is and he knows it too, but he is determined Peggy. You'll see something in Steve that you won't see in many others." Starlyn explained and went off to the next training area.

"It seems like you know something that we don't." Peggy spoke as she caught up with Starlyn.

"Yes I do know something that you don't, I know Steve and he truly is the best candidate for the program, he has something that the rest of these men don't have." Starlyn explained.

"Oh and what's that?" Peggy questioned.

"Steve has heart." Starlyn said with conviction.

The rest of the day went by quickly, causing spikes of anger to course through Starlyn at what the other men were doing to Steve throughout the course, knocking down the barb wire that they were crawling through and having Duffy yell at Steve for things that were never his fault and Duffy knew that but there was obviously something about Steve that rubbed him the wrong way.

"I'm going to head back, meet up with Erskine before I kill one of those idiots." Starlyn grumbled to Peggy and gave her a wave and headed off back to camp, she did have to meet up with Erskine and Stark soon so it was probably a good idea to head back now before she did something to one of the men.

Starlyn walking into the building at camp that had been set aside from the rest of the camp for the use of the SSR, Dr. Erskine was doing all his research there until they moved off into Brooklyn to use their power grid to activate the serum with vita rays. Starlyn just hoped that the help of her DNA was enough to increase the chances of surviving the transformation and that was one of the things that she was going to talk with Erskine about right now.

"Ah Starlyn, how goes the process?" Erskine questioned as she walked in, a man she recognised as Howard Stark was standing next to him, "This is Howard Stark, Mister Stark this is First Lieutenant Starlyn Rogers and the resident nurse for the recruits involved." He introduced.

"Mister Stark." Starlyn said holding her hand out to Stark who brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"A pleasure Miss Rogers." He responded with a flirtatious smile.

Starlyn raised an eyebrow, "First Lieutenant Rogers if you please Mister Stark."

"No worries doll." Howard responded with a winning smile before turning back to his plans that were laid out on the table, not noticing the tick of Starlyn's eyebrow. The man was going to do her head in before the end of Project Rebirth.

"As you asked doctor, the process is going well, I'm not very impressed with most of the soldiers, they were 15 minutes late to the training field and then had the audacity to keep talking and then when they were told off and told they would be put on report one of the men spoke up saying that we couldn't do that. Those men aren't worth the time wasted on training them, not for the serum." She huffed out.

"Tell us how you really feel." Howard spoke up.

Starlyn snorted, "You really don't want me to tell you how I really feel, there are a lot more swear words and derogatory terms in there." She told him.

"So the candidates aren't what I am looking for then?" Erskine questioned.

"One of them is what _you_ are looking for, the rest are what Chester is looking for." Starlyn told him knowing that he would know who she was talking about, "The rest of them are here thinking they have some sort of privilege being in the programme."

"We still have a few days my dear." Erskine told her.

"I know we do doctor, but those men are going to drive me mad in the meantime and probably send Steve to the infirmary again." She grumbled.

"What do you mean my dear?" Erskine asked confused.

"Last night some of the men in his barracks asked about me and Steve wouldn't tell them anything and instead told them to come and ask me themselves and they didn't like that so one of them called me a tart so Steve punch him for it so they all laid into Steve who trudged over to my barracks and has bruised ribs, split lip and a black eye." Skye informed him, snapping the glass stirring rod that she didn't even remember picking up.

Howard and Erskine stepped back a little bit from the woman in front of them, a males self-preservation instincts seem to kick in around an angry female, they both decided to let the woman vent lest they be the ones on the receiving end of her irate attitude at that moment in time, "So do the plans meet your specifications Doctor?" Howard questioned slowly turning back to the papers on the table as Starlyn paced back and forth behind them.

"Yes Mister Stark, they are. When can you commence building the machine?"

"As soon as I get back to Brooklyn." Howard responded and he felt the hair on the back of his neck prickled and there was a faint breath as well.

"Is that the pod?" Starlyn questioned. It had seemed that she had finally calmed down enough to see what the pair of them were going over.

"It is indeed my dear, what do you think?" Erskine questioned as he moved over so that Starlyn could see the plans properly. Starlyn looked over the plans with a critical eye, making sure that it was indeed to the specifications that were needed, not that she would really know, this was all Howard Stark as the plans for the pod were never released to the public and to the public's knowledge it had been destroyed once Erskine had been killed. But there was a mock-up of it in the Smithsonian but by looking at the plans it was obvious that the one in the Smithsonian was completely incorrect in its rendition.

"I'll defer to Mister Stark's expertise in this matter doctor." Starlyn said stepping back from the plans, "If he says that it will work then we'll have to believe that of him."

"Why thank you doll." Howard drawled as he rolled up the schematics and put them back in their tubing, "Anything else you're going to need in Brooklyn Doc?" He questioned.

"I will think it over Mister Stark and let you know." Erskine responded shaking Stark's hand followed by Starlyn.

"Well I'll see the pair of you in Brooklyn soon." Howard said and left the tent toward a very nice car that Starlyn hadn't even noticed when she came in, she must have been in a dark place when she walked to Erskine's barrack.

"Do you need me any further today doctor?" Starlyn asked.

Erskine smiled over at the young doctor, he could see that this was hard on the young woman, as well as the blant disrespect from the men even if she was the one that would be overseeing their welfare. He also knew that it wasn't what she was used to from what he had told her a little about her future, where she was respected by the men and women she trained with and fought with and they had a connection and took care of each other, "Why don't you go and have a jog, it may help to relieve some of your stress my dear." He offered.

Starlyn brightened, "I like how you think Doc." She said throwing him a smile, "Thank you." And with that she left the barrack and rushed to her own to change and go for a jog around the camp, she wondered if Steve and the others have started their jog around the camp in full gear yet. Something that she always found 'fun' when she had to do it back in boot camp, carrying more than your weight as you jogged. Well she would soon find out as she set off out of the camp starting off her jog slowly.

Starlyn jogged happily, letting all of her problems roll off of her shoulders as she did, there was nothing like taking a jog or run to forget all of your worries and get a good work out at the same time. Camp Lehigh was situated in quite a nice area, beautiful trees lined parts of the path that was used to jog while wearing full kit, it would also be nice to come out and have a picnic when there was time and Starlyn was going to make sure that she and Steve had some time to do that.

Starlyn hummed as she jogged, it really did suck that she couldn't use her phone to listen to music, that would draw a little bit of attention if she did but she could do without as long as she could hum as she jogged and at the moment she was humming Cyndi Lauper's Time after Time and it seemed to fit the situation nicely.

Starlyn also thought about Bucky as she jogged, she still had a twist in her stomach that she had gotten when she had seen Bucky shot, it did not sit well with her that he was injured, it was like she and Steve were injured by extension and it wasn't a good feeling at all and it was something that she had never felt before, not even with those of her unit back in the future could illicit that kind of feeling within her and she didn't know what to do with that feeling or what it could mean.

Her jogging slowed as she thought back to last time she saw Bucky and let out a groan, she had kissed Bucky twice, on the lips, something she had never done before, she had always kissed him on the cheek or forehead like she always did with Steve, but something seemed to have changed when she saw him in his uniform, she had been terrified for Bucky, terrified that something permanent would happen and so she had kissed him as though she was never going to see him again at that thought frightened her more than she thought it would.

Starlyn was used to loss, that's what the military during war was if you weren't careful, even if your careful you could still die, but the thought of Bucky dying made her feel cold inside and she knew that it would be the same with Steve, but that was going to change with the serum, nothing had been changed that much so all things should still go as planned, but what should she do about Bucky? Maybe talking to Steve would help.

"Pick up the pace, ladies!" She heard Duffy yell breaking her out of her thoughts and she let out a laugh at how Steve was running trying to keep up with the other men, arms and legs flapping about, "Let's go, let's go! Double time!" She could also see Peggy sitting in a truck not far from the flagpole, "Come on! Faster! Faster!" Duffy continued to yell as they approached, "Squad, halt!" He ordered coming to a stop at the flagpole. Starlyn just jogged past them to Peggy.

"Nice day isn't it?" She asked casually as she leant against the truck.

"Lovely." Peggy responded bored as she watched the men stand around the flagpole.

"That flag means we're only at the halfway point." Duffy explained pointing up at the flag and Starlyn was shocked that they were all only at the halfway point, "First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter." He told them, "Move, move!" He called out and all of the men scrambled to climb the pole to get the flag, Starlyn busted out laughing watching as they struggled to do it and Steve just stood there, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath and watch the others try and fail to get the flag, "Come on! Get up there!" Duffy yelled out encouragement but knew that the men wouldn't be able to do it, "If that's all you've got, this army's in trouble! Get up there Hodge!" Hodge shimmied up the pole and only got up about 5 feet before he slid back down, "Come on! Get up there!" Another man tried to climb the pole while Duffy looked on smugly, arms crossed over his chest, "Nobody's got that flag in 17 years!" Duffy explained to them, "Now fall back into line! Come on, fall in!" He finally called and the men fell back in line, "Let's go! Get back into formation!"

As the men fell back into line Steve walked over to the flagpole and gave it a cursory look over, "Rogers! I said fall in!" Duffy yelled back at him but Steve ignored him and pulled the pin that keeps the stability pole in place and then pulled that out and the flagpole toppled, Steve threw down the two pieces as he walked to the top of the pole and pulled the flag off, Starlyn was cackling like a hyena at the simplicity of what Steve had done, Duffy threw her a nasty look before turning back to Steve as he approached and he handed over the flag to Duffy, "Thank you sir." He said politely before he climbed into the back of the truck. Starlyn could see Peggy trying to keep the smile off of her face at Steve's actions and the rest of the men shared looks of disbelief as the truck drove off, Starlyn could see that Duffy was a little bit impressed with how Steve had managed to get the flag but she still couldn't stop laughing and it was something that she would randomly giggle about every now and then.

"See you back at camp boys." Starlyn managed through giggles as she set off down the track back to the camp.


	8. Bucky's urge to kill & Steve's weakness

Hey there guys, here is another chapter, I might post another one later today or tomorrow so that we can get things going LOL.

Please read and review and dont forget to check out my profile for the poll on how I should end this story.

Also at around chap 23/24 we're going to see what the serum had done to Starlyn so if you guys have any ideas about what should happen give me a shout out cause i have a few things but i dont know if i want to go with them, so please, please let me know what should happen, eg- a new power, her feral side mutates etc, let me know.

* * *

They had been marching pretty much non-stop for the past 3 days and they could all feel the fatigue from not getting much sleep settling in and a few of the men had already fallen into delusions from lack of sleep and getting low on water. Bucky hoped that soon they would be able to secure somewhere where they could get a decent night's sleep and refill their water canteens before continuing on.

"Barnes." The new squad Captain, Goodard, the previous one having been killed, called over to him softly, Bucky scurried over, hunched over so that he wouldn't be caught in any enemy fire.

"Yes sir?"

"Take Dugan and scout up head a little ways, see what you can find." Goodard ordered and Bucky looked back to Dugan and waved him forward and the two of them headed off ahead of the rest of the squad to see if there was anywhere free of enemies that they could hunker down for a little while.

"What are we looking for?" Dugan questioned.

Bucky shook his head, "I have no idea, but I wouldn't mind somewhere where we can catch a few hours' kip." He explained.

"That sounds bloody good to me." Dugan agreed as they walked, keeping their eyes open for that exact thing. 10 minutes later the pair came to a halt as they came upon a mill that looked to be clear of Nazis, "Should we check it out before going back?"

Bucky looked the mill over in silent contemplation, "Best not, I can't afford to get shot again." He joked, "I'll stay here and keep an eye out, you head back and get the others." He finally decided.

"Alright, just stay in one piece." Dugan said and he turned and headed back to where the rest of the squad was waiting for them.

While he was waiting for the rest of the squad Bucky walked the perimeter of the mill to see if there were any booby traps around that needed to be dismantled before they could occupy the mill if it was safe, a good thing about the mill was the water wheel that was at the back that couldn't be seen from the front so at least they would have some water to drink. By the time he got back around to the front the rest of the squad had arrived, "It looks secure sir, I did a perimeter sweep for traps and didn't find any, haven't seen any other movement in the woods or the mill but there is a water wheel around back so we'll be able to fill up there." Bucky explained.

"Very good Sergeant, let's get inside and hope for the best." Goodard said, "Barnes, Dugan, Jones the three of you head in and check it out."

"Yes sir." The three chimed and they each started to head out into the bit of open field before the mill taking care of where they stepped, there could still be land mines in the field, that was somewhere that Bucky didn't look because he didn't want to get too close.

"Just take it slow." Bucky murmured as he looked the ground over for any disturbed areas where possible land mines could have been put.

"Well I sure as hell ain't going any faster." Dugan snapped, "I want to go home in one piece."

"We all do Dugan so chill man." Gabe spoke up, they had finally made it to the mill door, Gabe and Dugan on the left and Bucky on the right. Bucky slowly edged the door open lest that of all things was booby trapped, Bucky let out a sigh as the door slid open easily with just a little squeak, Bucky pulled out his flash light and swept the room and it looked to be all clear so he headed inside to have a proper look around and had Gabe and Dugan stay by the door.

The mill wasn't very large so it was a quick sweep and looks like it hadn't been used in a few weeks so that was good for them, it'd give them a few hours to kip and recharge, there was also some oats sitting in a barrel so that would give them some more sustenance, "Alright call 'em in." Bucky called to Dugan and Gabe. Gabe walked in while Dugan whistled to the squad that all was clear for them to come through, once everyone was inside they all spaced out to throw down their sleep mats so they could get some sleep, the only ones that didn't get to do that were Bucky, Dugan and Gabe who were ordered to keep watch for two hours, then wake up the next shift. Bucky, Dugan and Gabe were not impressed with that, out of everyone there they had gotten the least amount of sleep out of the whole squad and had to do all of the look outs and scouting, neither of the three liked their new captain but then again they didn't like many of the other men in the squad either.

"If they don't wake up when we go to get them for shift change I am going to kick them." Dugan muttered as they heard Goodard tell the men who was on the next rotation in two hours and then who was on after that.

"Agreed." Bucky grumbled as he climbed up to a small loft where there was a small hay bale hole so he had the high ground, Dugan took the front and Gabe took the back near the water wheel which Private Johnson was at filling up everyone's canteens, he got just as much flak from the new captain as they did for some reason.

Bucky blew into his glove covered hands, as the night wore on it felt like his hands had been stuck inside a freezer for hours, he was happy that soon he would be setting up his sleep mat and getting some sleep no matter what and if he didn't he was liable to shoot one of his squad mates. Getting up from where he was seated he headed back down to the main level and walked over to Private Austin and shook him awake with a booted foot but Austin just rolled over and kept sleeping so Bucky bent down, ripped off the blanket grabbed Austin by the scruff of the neck and that woke him up, "Get your ass up." Bucky hissed and got a glare in response.

"Fuck you." Austin spat, "I'm sleeping."

"No, 2 hours is up you are getting your ass outta bed and going on watch."

"Like hell I am."

By this time Dugan and Gabe had joined him in waking up the men that were meant to take over from there but were pretty much in the same situation as Bucky was and Bucky was not impressed nor was he very happy, "You listen to me and you listen good you little prick, you are a private and I am a Sergeant and you have also been told by the captain that you were to be on shift in two hours, that is now passed, so get your ass up and get on watch before I write you up for insubordination." Bucky growled dangerously with a look that could kill in his eyes and that is what got Private Austin moving as well as the other two.

Sounds of yelling reached Bucky's ears, he knew that he hadn't been sleeping all that long so what the hell could have gone wrong in, he looked down at his watch, 30 minutes and why was it that no one else but he woke up? Bucky looked around in the dark and saw that Gabe and Dugan were also awake and not looking all too happy about it, so the three of them got up from their beds and went toward where the yell had come from, "What the hell is going on?" Bucky hissed at Private Austin.

"There's something up here." Austin responded.

Bucky let out an irritated growl and turned on his flash light and had a look around the loft with it and all he could see were a few mice scurrying away from the light and an owl that hooted angrily as the beam struck it and that it had lost its dinner, "Before freaking out, next time get your flashlight out before you go yelling about something, like Nazis being around, that is cause for yelling." Bucky explained as he took a look outside and saw one of the other men patrolling like he should have been, if there was something or someone out there he would have been alerted so the three went back to their mats and settled back down to sleep and hoped that there would not be any more interruptions to their sleep.

Dawn, the worst time of any day for then men that would like nothing more than to keep sleeping, but alas, it wasn't to be as Bucky, Dugan, Gabe and Private Johnson were some of the last to wake. It seemed Bucky's little pep talk to Private Austin got spread quickly as the men started to awake to leave the four to sleep for a little bit longer. Bucky let out a sigh as he stretched out it felt good to get a decent night's sleep knowing that they wouldn't get as much as more time went by.

"Morning." Bucky said to Gabe, Dugan and Johnson.

"It's nice to get a decent night's sleep." Dugan muttered as they rolled up their sleep mats and attached them to their packs before heading over to sit with the other men as breakfast was divvied up between the men. Goodard had his breakfast balancing on a knee as he looked over the map of where they were compared to where they should be and how far out they could be.

"How's it looking out there?" Bucky questioned Johnson as he dug into his breakfast.

Johnson knocked on the wooden barrel next to him, "So far so good." He responded once he swallowed.

Bucky nodded and looked back over to Goodard, "How far off track are we sir?" He asked.

"Not too far actually we need to head a few clicks Nore East and we'll be golden." Goodard responded as he folded the map back up and shoved it back into his side pack.

"That's good to hear." Bucky murmured as he finished off his meal and went to give it a quick wash off before putting it away in his pack.

"Alright gents." Goodard called out, "You've got 30 minutes before we head out so make sure your packs are secure and you've filled up on water, God knows when we might be able to fill up." He sprouted as he went over to his pack, "Get to it men." Goodard started to check his pack and his canteens were filled just as the others did.

"I just hope we won't be going so long without another decent night's kip." Dugan grumbled to Gabe and Bucky as he packed.

"I agree." Gabe muttered, "We had a decent night's sleep but I don't feel like I've really gotten as much as I would like."

Bucky nodded as he ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah, I hope so too."

Once everyone was packed they headed to the door, Austin and Brooks were the first to check that the coast was clear before they all made their way out of the mill and followed in the direction that Goodard was heading to get them back on track and heading for Azzano.

* * *

Steve ran a hand through his hair, it was getting a little too long for his liking but there wasn't anything he could do about that right now, Starlyn was too busy to do it since she was going through so things for the Doctor that had given him this chance, but he really did need to see Starlyn and get a pep talk from her, he was having a hard time getting through the drills and was only able to get out of the rest of the run because he went about getting the flag differently than the others did.

Steve sighed as he got up from his bunk and headed out and to the mess for dinner, it was probably the only time he might be able to see Starlyn and have a quick chat with her about his thoughts and where they were heading and if he could finish what he started.

Just as Steve came in another soldier came in with the mail bag and started to pull out the mail in the bag and calling out names, finally getting around to Rogers, both of them so Steve walked over and grabbed the letters once he proved that he was a Rogers and that the other Rogers was his sister. Steve gave them a look over and noticed that it was Bucky's hand writing on the letter, they were finally hearing from Bucky, according to Starlyn he was a few days over his assigned time she had allotted, hopefully she wouldn't rip into him too badly in her reply.

Grabbing a tray and loading up with dinner he went and sat down at one of the vacant tables and opened his letter and read it over while eating. Bucky had written about inconsequential things about what was going on with where he was, how he and a couple of his squad mates were being made to do almost all of the heavy lifting as they marched toward Azzano and it was starting to wear down on the man, he was tired of doing all of the work and needed to get more sleep but was otherwise doing okay and they hadn't run into too many Nazi's and then asked how Steve and Starlyn were going.

"Hey Steve." Starlyn said softly as she sat down and Steve looked over at the woman, she looked tired, more tired than he had ever seen her.

"Hey, you okay?" Steve questioned in concern.

Starlyn gave him a tired but sincere smile, "Yeah, just need a good night's sleep is all." She responded and started eating.

"We got letters from Bucky." He said handing her his opened one and her closed one. Starlyn all but snatched the letters out of his hand making Steve laugh a little at her exuberance at hearing from Bucky, "He says he's doing okay." He told her.

Starlyn let out a sigh of relief as she read through Steve's letter and then handed it back over to him so that he could put it with the other letters from Bucky that he had kept, "Thank God." She muttered and put her letter to the side and looked Steve over, "How are you doing?" She questioned.

"I'm doing okay, but when you have time do you think that you could do my hair?" He asked, "It's getting a little long and I also want to talk to you about some things as well."

"Come with me after dinner and I'll get it done and we can talk about whatever it is that you want to talk about while I'm doing it." She told him.

"Are you sure, I really don't mind waiting until you've had some sleep." Steve told her.

Starlyn chuckled, "If I don't do it tonight it won't get done for a while Stevie, Erskine is gunna have me trapped in our lab for the next few days while we go over everything." She explained, "So eat up and we'll go." She said returning to her meal and chowing down, with a smile Steve followed her example and finished off his meal.

Starlyn grabbed the comb and pair of scissors from her toiletries bag and came back over to where Steve was sitting and started to wet his hair down a little with the bowl of water next to her, "So what's up Stevie?" She questioned as she started to comb and snip.

Steve sighed, "I don't know if a can do it Star, I know that this is something I want but I don't think that my body is going to let me finish." He admitted softly, it obviously took a lot for him to admit that.

Starlyn was quite as she thought about what she could say as she continued to cut his hair, "I have faith that you can do this Stevie, you have to trust in that. I know that it seems like it isn't worth it now but believe me, you can do this." She told him, she had complete faith that he could get through the next few days and then he would be chosen for the program, there was no doubt about it.

"How do you know?" He queried.

"Because of who you are Steve, because of who you are. I know you can do it just hold out a little bit longer alright." She said giving him a kiss on the crown of his head, "Is there anything else that is bothering you?"

"No it was just that, the drills are really putting me through my paces and I'm just having a hard time with it." He explained, "But otherwise I'm okay."

"Alright, I'm glad." She said with a smile and finished off his hair, "There you go brother mine."

"Thanks Star." Steve said standing up and giving the woman a hug, "I'll see you later." He said and headed out of the barrack to head back to his own, bumping into Peggy as he made his way out, offering up a stuttered apology he hurried off with Peggy watching after him with a raised brown before she turned her head to a giggling Starlyn.

"What's so funny?" Peggy questioned.

"He's such a dork." Starlyn managed to get out, "That and I think you intimidate him a little bit."

"Good, he should be intimidated." Peggy responded as she started to put her hair in curlers for bed.

"I think you intimidate him a little too much Peg, that and he's not very savvy with the women folk." Starlyn told her.

"He seems okay with you."

Starlyn rolled her eyes, "That's 'cause I'm his sister. Usually women ignore Steve's existence back home, Bucky tries to get him a date but they end up in Bucky's arms instead, they definitely don't like someone smaller and sicker than they are." She explained, she really did feel bad that Steve got treated that way by others 'cause they never got to see what he could or would give them and that would be the world if he could do it.

"They just don't want the responsibility of looking after someone sickly." Peggy responded, "It takes a special woman or even man to take up that kind of responsibility."

Starlyn sighed, "I know, it just really sucks for Stevie, he really deserves someone special." She mumbled.

* * *

 **DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE POLL ON MY PROFILE. XOXO**


	9. Grenade and Choice Made

Ohhh we'll be up to the Serum injection next chapter and then things really get started, I can't wait to read what you guys think.

Enjoy the chapter, read and review

* * *

It had been a couple of days since the run where Steve got the flag and Sergeant Duffy was working harder than ever on Steve and also saying things that nearly made Starlyn want to stab the ass hat for everything that he was saying to her poor brother, but Steve just took it all and muddled his way through it. His times were slow due to his condition but he had improved a little bit compared to how he had been when he started but he still struggled through it with Starlyn's encouragement.

While Steve was going through that Starlyn was going through the serum with Dr Erskine, he wanted to try and get the serum better than what it was before even adding her blood so that there was no need for them to speculate on the added element if it was so needed, the serum had worked before but the man obviously wasn't the right one and adding in the vita-rays it just might do what was needed.

"So how are we going with the serum now?" Starlyn questioned as she looked over the original serum formula that was used on the Red Skull, not that she knew what she was looking at since there was nothing in the future, to the public anyway, on the compounds of the original formula.

"It's going well, I have gotten the serum to 48.2%, not much more than what I had but it's better than it was before but I don't think that it can get any better than that even with the added benefit of your genes it will only go up to 50.9%." Erskine explained as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, "It's the best that I can do. The rest of it is up to the man that is chosen."

Starlyn sighed as she rested her head on the table, there was nothing more that could do in regards to the serum, it would all be up to Steve to power through it and become the man that he is meant to be, "Well I guess that all we have to do is choose who it is to be."

Erskine chuckled, "You already know who I'm going to choose."

Starlyn smiled at Erskine, "Oh I know, I just wanted to make sure that you knew."

"Indeed my dear, I do believe that you were right from the start, compared to everyone else he truly has what I am looking for."

Starlyn nodded, "Yeah, but Phillips ain't gunna be too happy about it at all, he wants Hodge to be the one chosen." She explained.

Erskine looked pained at the suggestion, "The man is a brute and a moron, no he will not be getting my serum." He said quite sure of himself, "I will prove to Phillips that Steve deserves to be the one given the serum."

"Good luck with that." She sighed, "Should I keep up with the medicals or just let them go unless they get injured?"

"Don't worry about them anymore, we don't need them when we have chosen Steven." He told her as he grabbed his jacket and hat and started out of the barrack to go and talk with Phillips about having chosen Steve, "We will be leaving in two days, make sure that you have everything ready." He explained to her and Starlyn nodded after him as she pulled all of her papers toward her and started to pack them up in their chronological order that she had kept the files in before following after Dr Erskine.

Erskine and Phillips walked through the camp towards where the men were being put through their paces by Peggy, "You're not really thinking about picking Rogers are you?" Phillips questioned as they walked through.

"I'm more than thinking about it. He is the clear choice." Erskine said firmly.

"When you brought a 90 pound asthmatic on to my army base I let it slide. I thought, 'what the hell'. Maybe he'd be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him." Phillips told him as the pair of them watched the men start to do jumping jacks and could see Steve having some troubles going through the motions, "You stick a needle in that kid's arm, and it's going to go right through him." He said as he watched Steve try to do the jacks with the rest of the company, "Look at that, he's going to make me cry."

Erskine sighed as he leant against the truck, "I am looking for qualities beyond the physical." He explained.

"Do you know how long it took for us to set up this project? All the grovelling I had to do in front of Senator What's-His-Name's committees?"

"Brandt." Erskine provided, "Yes, I know. I am well aware of your efforts."

"Then throw me a damn bone here. Hodge has passed every test we have given him, he's big, he's fast. He obeys orders, he's a soldier." Phillips stated.

"He's a bully." Erskine immediately responded.

"You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor." Phillips said as he looked around Erskine at what was in the truck bed and walked over to one of the boxes that was open and grabbed out a grenade, "You win war with guts." He stated as he pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it at the jumping group, "Grenade!" He calls and all of the men quickly bolted away from the explosive to take cover while Steve quickly moved to the grenade and threw himself onto it to protect the others from the blast.

Starlyn choked on a scream startling Erskine and Phillips, her eyes wide on the image of her brother throwing himself on top of a grenade.

Peggy raced over as Steve did but stopped as he covered it, "Get away!" He yelled, "Get back." It was at this time that the others looked up from their hiding spots to peek over at where Steve was covering the grenade, a grenade that still hadn't gone off. Breathing slowly Steve started to move up and heard one of the other officers say that it was a dummy grenade and for the men to get back to what they were doing before the call.

Steve looked up at Peggy breathing heavily, "Is this a test?" He questioned.

Erskine looked quite proud of himself and Phillips looked as though he had sucked a lemon, "He's still skinny." Phillips grumbled and walked off.

"STEVEN GRANT ROGERS." Came a screech and everyone around them flinched at the pure volume of the sound and Steve, well Steve looked like he wanted to dig himself a rather large hole as Starlyn came stomping over to where he was still sitting down on the ground after all of the excitement, "What the FUCK was that? Never, ever to that again do you hear me, let the others blow up for all I care but don't you ever put yourself in that sort of situation ever again." She napped and slapped him over the head before hauling him up and grabbing his face between her hands, "That was the stupidest thing that I have seen you do yet." She said.

"I can't say that I'm sorry for doing that because I would probably do it again." Steve told her with a small smile, "You know me."

Starlyn let out a mix of a sigh and groan as she rested her forehead against his, "You're going to give me grey hairs before I should get them." She mumbled giving him a kiss on the forehead and let him go, "I'm going to go and have a drink." She grumbled and headed off to her barrack to have that drink.

Steve let out a sigh of relief as Starlyn walked off, there could have been a lot more damage done to him if she were so inclined, and so it was a good thing that she was frazzled about the whole situation to cause him any bodily harm.

Peggy and Erskine looked over at where Steve was standing to try and get his breath back even though he hadn't been doing anything for the last few minutes, "I do believe we have our soldier." Erskine muttered to Peggy with a smile on his face.

Peggy really wanted to roll her eyes but it was beneath her as an Agent to do so, "It's who you wanted all along isn't it?" She questioned him, "And now I see what both you and Starlyn see in the man." She said and went back over to the men, "Alright ladies, get your asses back in line and jumping." She called out to them and got them started on their training again, even though at this point in time it was no longer needed.

Starlyn sighed as she poured a glass of bourbon and drank it down quickly, there was a slight shaking in her hands, she had seen what a real grenade could do to someone that threw themselves over the small device and ended up in chunks all over the place just to try and save the others around them when there was no need for it if people got away fast enough at the first sign of the grenade.

There was something about seeing Steve do that that made everything all that much worse, it was probably because he was so small and vulnerable it made the impact of it that much harder to see, that and she was a little more emotionally vulnerable than she was with others when it had happened around her, they were mostly just other soldiers that were occasionally in her unit that she hadn't had a rapport with so it didn't connect with her as much as it had with Steve, Steve was her family now along with Bucky and she didn't know what she would do without the pair of them with her.

"Are you alright?" Came the British lilt of Peggy as she came inside.

Starlyn sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she poured another shot, "Yeah, just a little shaken from seeing Steve do something like that for a bunch of morons." She said, "Though I should have known that he would do that, it's who he is to do that kind of thing for others."

"Well it won him the vote to be the one to become the first super soldier." Peggy told her as she sat down on her bed, "Phillips is going to let Erskine have him."

Starlyn let out a sigh of relief, the matter of the one chosen was ultimately up to Phillips in the end no matter what Erskine could say so thank god that Phillips had agreed to Steve being the one to receive the serum. It was a great weight lifted off of her shoulders knowing that everything was going the way it was supposed to go, "Thank god." She mumbled and waved the bottle at Peggy, "Want one?" She asked.

Peggy nodded, "Please."

Starlyn pulled out another glass and poured a generous amount into the glass and passed it over to the other woman and the pair of them just sat where they were not speaking and just letting the time slip away as they came closer to the procedure. Peggy looked down at her watch after finishing her drink, "We should head over to the mess for dinner." She said putting the class down next to Starlyn, straightened herself up and started for the door, Starlyn got up and followed after the other woman but not before letting her hair out of the bun it was being held in.

"Alright, let's see what muck they have for us today." Starlyn said and followed after Peggy to the mess tent.

* * *

They were stuck, there was no way that they would be able to gain any ground for a while so H.Q ordered that everyone set up a base camp until further notice and make sure that they are able to keep the ground that they had covered so that the Nazi's could take the area back and take them out at the same time.

Bucky was grateful for the fact that they were staying in one place for a little while, it would give them some time to recuperate from the long marches, battles and lack of sleep. They were also able to get 'decent' food now that they had a permanent station so now morale was a little bit higher that it had been in weeks with all of the battalions that had been marching toward Azzano. It also gave Bucky time to send a letter to Steve and Starlyn, knowing that he was overdue again but hoped the woman he hadn't stopped thinking about would take it easy on him for his late response.

"You right there Bucky?" Dugan asked as he came into their tent and flopped down on his cot.

"Yeah man, just writing a letter that is long overdue." Bucky responded, "And then I am going to catch up on some overdue sleep."

Dugan laughed, "I know what you mean." The pair of them were completely worn out along with Gabe since they were the ones to get the full brunt of the orders while they were marching and it was pissing the three of them off quite a bit and it was making the others in the unit as lazy as hell when it came to watches and being look outs. Bucky had also put in a recommendation for Private Johnson to be promoted for all of the shit he had to put up with as well and the kid deserved it.

"Put Kip Johnson up for promotion, whether or not they'll look at it I'll never know." Bucky explained to Dugan as he stretched out.

Dugan nodded, "I agree with ya, kids getting just as much flack as we are and he doesn't deserve it, even though he is a Private and they usually get the shitty jobs but when it isn't shared out between all of them it's bullshit."

"Not shit, glad we get a little bit of a break though." Bucky said with a sigh, "We really should get up and head to the mess before we catch a kip." He said getting up and headed out of the tent for some grub and handed off his letters to the mail carrier.

* * *

Steve sat in an empty barrack, since he was the one that was chosen to do whatever it is that he was chosen for the others were put with the rest of the recruits and given their assignments and would be shipped out as soon as they were finished with the rest of basic, even though the training that they went through was a lot more vigorous they still needed to finish a couple of things, the beds had been stripped, mattress folded over with the pillow tucked between. He was just sitting there reading his book when he was interrupted by a knock on the door, turning he saw Erskine standing at the door with a bottle and two glasses in hand.

"May I?" Erskine asked.

Steve flipped his book closed, "Yeah."

"Can't sleep?" Was asked as Erskine walked over and took a seat on the bed across from Steve.

"I got the jitters I guess." Steve responded.

Erskine let out a little laugh, "Me too."

Steve watched Erskine for a second before putting his book down on his foot locker, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Just one?" Erskine wondered.

"Why me?"

Erskine looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose that is the only question that matters." He said running his thumb over the cork of the bottle he was holding, "This is from Augsburg. My city, so many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know after the last war, my people struggled to come back from where they were. They felt weak, they felt small and then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and flags." He takes a deep breath, "And he hears of me, of my work and he finds me and he says 'You' he says, 'You will make us strong'. Well I am not interested so he sends the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt, he is a member of the inner circle and is very ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth, Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers but it is not just a fantasy for Schmidt, it is as real as real can be and he has become convinced that there is a greater power hidden within the Earth that was left here by the Gods and it was there waiting to be seized by a superior man. So when he hears about my formula and what it can do he cannot resist. Schmidt must become a superior man."

"Did it make him stronger?" Steve questioned.

"Yes." Erskine said with a tilt of a smile, proud to know that his serum worked, "But there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great, bad becomes worse." He explained to Steve, "This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man who has known power all of his life may lose respect of that power… but a weak man, a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion."

Steve thought about everything that Erskine had explained to him about what had happened and understood everything that was being told to him but he wasn't all that sure that he had it in him to become great, becoming good was more than enough for him, "Thanks, I think." He said with a smile.

"There is something else we must talk about." Erskine said as he looked at a point beyond Steve's head, "I know that Starlyn isn't your sister, she told me of who she was and I would like to help her out in this war, the woman is wasting away doing these menial jobs."

"How are you going to do that sir?" Steve questioned, it was also whirling in his mind as to why Starlyn had told Erskine about herself.

"A fake serum procedure as you go through yours so that if at any stage that she gets hurt or injured at least the rapid healing can be explained by being put through the procedure." He explained.

"Have you spoken to Star about this?" Steve questioned.

Erskine shook his head, "No, not yet. I wanted to hear your thoughts on it."

Steve sat there thinking about everything that Erskine had just told him or really asked him about putting Starlyn through the procedure even though it would be fake. He knew that she would like to be able to be a little more active in the war considering who she is and what she can do and to her it's what she should be doing no matter the fact that it is a time dominated by men. But would others accept Erskine's solution and what he would tell others as to his reasoning for doing it.

"The only thing that I can see that will stop it from going ahead is what you tell Phillips and the Senator as to why you were doing it." Steve stated.

"I had thought of that, I was going to tell them there should always be a femme fatale to get to those that aren't easily accessible by a man." Erskine explained.

Steve nodded, "I can see how that could work but in the end it's up to Star to make the choice."

"Of course." Erskine agreed with the other and grabbed the glasses that he had brought with him and poured a little of the alcohol into each glass and passed it over to Steve, "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing." He put the cork back in the bottle, "That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." He said pointing a finger towards Steve's heart.

Steve raised the glass to Erskine, "To the little guys." They clinked the glass and just as Steve was about to take a drink Erskine grabbed the glass from Steve.

"No, no wait, wait. What am I doing?" He muttered to himself as he tipped Steve's portion in to his glass, "No, you have a procedure tomorrow. No fluids."

"Alright, we'll drink it after." Steve agreed.

Erskine looked at Steve as though he had a screw loose, "No, I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after?" He scoffed, "I drink it now." Steve smiled as he watched Erskine drink down the alcohol.


	10. Serum Infusion and 1st Face of HYDRA

Hey guys, here is another chapter I hope that you guys enjoy what I have done.

Also, I have actually finished the first 'book' so I'll go onto the Avengers next but fair warning, the first few chapters will be a little boring much like the beginning of this story.

Any way, please read and review and enjoy

* * *

Starlyn rushed around the area as others did the same as she, making sure that everything was to Erskine's standards as well as Howard's before Peggy turned up with Steve to go through the procedure and she had stupidly said yes to join Steve in the process even though it was fake and there was going to be no way in hell that she was going to let many others see her face so she had already had Howard make a special mask for her to wear during the procedure and beyond and she was wearing it at that moment in time.

"How is everything going?" Erskine questioned as he walked down into the area where Starlyn was checking the tubing and wiring that were to inject Steve, the serum was also on her person and only she and Erskine knew where it was. Real serum in the right pocket, fake for her in the left.

"Everything is going well we're just waiting on Steve." Starlyn responded, she was highly nervous about the whole procedure even though she knew it would work there was still that little bit of doubt niggling in the back of her mind but that was normal for her in high risk situations.

"Wonderful." Erskine said with a clap and went over to Howard.

* * *

"I know this neighbourhood." Steve muttered, mainly to himself as he and Peggy headed to where the procedure was taking place. He saw the kids playing ball in the street, something he and Bucky would do when he was well enough to do it then there was the other things as well, "I got beat up in that alley." He muttered pointing at said alley, "That parking lot, and behind the diner." He said looking down at his lap.

"Did you have something against running away?" Peggy questioned.

Steve shook his head in response, "You start running, and they'll never let you stop. You stand up, you push back they can't say no forever right?"

"I know a little of what it's like, to have every door shut in your face." Peggy responded in kind, in that respect Peggy could understand because she was a woman doing a man's job.

"I guess I just don't know why you'd want to join the Army if you were a beautiful dame, or a… woman." Steve stuttered over what he was saying and Peggy turned to him, her expression not once changing, "An Agent, not a dame. You are beautiful but…"

Peggy shook her head, "You really have no idea how to talk to a woman that isn't Starlyn do you?"

Steve gave a huffed laugh, "I'm pretty sure that this is the longest conversation I've had with a woman besides Starlyn. Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on."

"You must have danced."

"Well asking a woman to dance always seemed to terrifying, usually Star just grabbed me and dragged me out on to the dance floor. And the past few years, it just didn't seem to matter that much. I figured I'd wait."

"For what?"

"The right partner." Steve said as the driver pulled up in front of an antiquities store, Steve looked around as Peggy climbed out of the car.

"This way." Peggy said leading him into the antiquities store.

"What are we doing here?" Steve questioned.

"Follow me." Peggy said entering the store as Steve put his cap on following behind her. As they got down the stairs an older woman came from behind some curtains.

"Wonderful weather this morning, isn't it?" She said in greeting.

"Yes, but I always carry an umbrella." Peggy responded with the correct code word, satisfied with the response the older woman moved over to the counter and pressed a small button that was hidden there while Peggy and Steve walked back behind the curtain and came to a stop at a book case within seconds the book case opened as with a little shock Steve looked down the vast hall that was hidden in such an inconspicuous place. Peggy led him down the hall and Steve could feel the nervousness bubble as he came closer and closer to his enhancement.

As they approached the rail all activity below stopped and everyone looked up at where Steve and Peggy were, a few of them had disbelieving looks on their faces at the man that Erskine had chosen. Peggy gave Steve a grimace and started down the stairs and over to Erskine, "Good morning." Erskine greeted shaking Steve's hand when a flash blinded the both of them, "Please, not now." He reprimanded. Steve looked over to his right side and saw the two pods lying vertically, the pods that he himself and his sister would be put into with only one of them getting the serum, "Are you ready?" Erskine questioned. Steve gave a shaky nod, "Good. Take off your shirt, hat and tie." He said pointing out each item and then walked off and left Steve to do what he was told.

"Where is Star?" Steve mumbled to himself as he stripped off his top half.

"She'll be getting changed so that she can join you in this endeavour." Peggy responded just as Starlyn came from one of the back rooms wearing a mask which confused Peggy greatly and figured that there was a reason for it, Starlyn also looked fatter than she had thought Starlyn was, it was like in two days she had eaten anything and everything she could get her hands on, "Why do you look so large?" She questioned as Starlyn joined them at the pods.

An eyebrow rose, "Are you saying that I'm fat Peg?" Starlyn questioned with her hands on her hips.

"Yes that's exactly it." Peggy responded frankly.

Starlyn ran a hand over her face then grabbed Peggy's hand and started to pull her to the back, she gave a nod to Erskine so he knew what she was going to tell Peggy, "There is a reason I look so large at the moment." Starlyn said coming to the janitors closet where there was no way that they could be watched.

Peggy watched with wide eyes as Starlyn's body went back to what it normally was, they did share a tent after all and it wasn't like they had anything to hide, "What the hell?"

Starlyn huffed a laugh, "I'm a little different from you, from Steve, from Erskine. I am what is known as a mutant, that is where there is an extra gene in the DNA and gives that person special abilities, such as turning into a human ice cube, flying, mind reading, super strength, etc. What I have is a very capable healing factor meaning that if I am shot, stabbed whatever I will instantly heal." She said and quickly slashed at her hand with a nail and then wiped blood away from the wound, "Erskine is putting me through a fake procedure just in case something happens that will need my healing abilities. And as for the mask, I cannot afford my face to be shown anywhere." She emphasised the anywhere.

Peggy was confused, "But why not?"

Starlyn grimaced, "Because believe it or not, I am from the future. I was going to the Army base in Brooklyn on assignment in the year 2012 when something happened and I was thrown back in time where Steve and his best friend found me in an alley." She said with a blasé shrug at the other woman, not expecting her friend to believe a word she had said.

Peggy just stared at her friend for a few moments before nodding, "I suppose that there is a ring of truth to all of what you said, there have been times where you have said or done something that just doesn't coincide with other women of our age. That and the fact that you seem to get pissed off way more than any other woman does because of what you can and can't do."

Starlyn nodded, "And that is why I had to create fake papers with the Rogers name on all of it so that no one could prove that it was me or that I had travelled in time or whatever, at least with my first name in my time I can just say that my parents were a fan of Starlyn Rogers or something." She said in a rush and made herself look fat again much to the shock of Peggy, it was still somewhat hard for the other woman to believe, "Now we had better get back out there cause I need to get into the pod and Erskine has to explain why I'm going in as well and what the procedure is going to do exactly." She said and the pair of them walked out of the closet and back into the main area where Steve was already settled into his pod. Starlyn placed the serum in to the right spots on each of the pods before she quickly climbed into her pod and Erskine came up between the pair of them with Peggy off to the side a little.

"Comfortable?" He questioned the pair. Starlyn just nodded before looking back up at the ceiling to await the procedure.

Steve laughed a little as he looked over the pod again now that he was lying down, "It's a little big." Erskine chuckled, "You save me any of that schnapps?" Steve asked.

Erskine looked a little guilty, "Not as much as I should have, sorry. Next time." He took a step back, "Mr. Stark how are the levels?"

"Levels are at 100%." Howard responded coming over to where they were.

"Good." Erskine said as he moved away from Steve and Starlyn and Howard took his place looking over Steve.

"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn but we are ready as we'll ever be." Howard said and walked off to his instrument panel.

"Agent Carter, don't you think that you would be more comfortable in the observation booth?" Erskine asked her.

"Yes of course." Peggy agreed and started to head up to the booth where Phillips and the senator were seated to watch the show.

Starlyn looked over to Steve, "It's all going to be okay Steve." She told him softly, he turned to look at her a 'how do you know' look in his eyes, "Trust me, it all works out fine." She said firmly and he then understood what she was talking about.

"You knew all this time?" He hissed.

Starlyn gave a quirk of her lips, "Couldn't exactly tell you something that could change the future so dramatically because you could have gone down a completely different path."

Steve sighed, "Yeah I suppose you're right."

"Love you Stevie."

"Love you too Star."

Erskine flicked at the microphone that he was holding, the screeching causing everyone to flinch at the sound and looked down at where Erskine was standing, "Do you hear me? Is this on?" He took a breath, "Ladies and gentlemen today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path of peace, as you can see we have two people in the machines behind me, the first is Steve Rogers and the other is to be our femme fatale, not many would suspect a woman in doing certain jobs and the young lady has shown that she is more than capable of the task so both of them will be getting the serum." As he was explaining the other scientists were moving around the pair putting the clamps in place and opening the case that Starlyn had put the serum into, "We begin with a series of microinjections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subjects will be saturated with Vita-Rays." He finished and walked over to Steve where a nurse was injecting him and another doing the same to Starlyn.

"That wasn't so bad." Steve muttered.

Starlyn snorted, "That was just the penicillin." She told him while Erskine just gave Steve one of this 'what ya going to do' shrugs.

"Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three," The serum injector clamps move down onto their arms and Erskine pats Steve's shoulder comfortingly knowing that Starlyn wouldn't need the comfort as much, "Two, one." He finished counting and one of the scientists pushed the lever and the serum started to inject into the two. Steve let out a groan of pain and his eyes snapped open, "Now, Mr. Stark."

Howard looked down at the control panel and pulled the lever that would start the Vita-Ray process, both pods started to rise and enclosed around the two and the plug was put in the back. Erskine moved over to the pod and knocked on it, "Steven? Can you hear me?"

"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" Steve jokingly questioned.

Erskine looked over to Howard, "We will proceed."

Howard moved over to the voltage dial and turned it right up and then pulled on a pair of safety glasses which was a clue to everyone else in the room and moved back over to the wheel that controlled the Vita-Rays and he started to turn it causing the pods to light up with a very bright blue light.

"Twenty percent, thirty." Howard kept turning the dial, "That's 40%."

"Vital signs are normal." A doctor spoke up from where he was studying the life signs of both people.

"We're on 50%, sixty, Seventy." The light glows brighter as the wheel is turned and Steve starts to cry out in pain which in turn caused Starlyn to cry out not long after so that her 'process' mimicked Steve's.

"Steven. Femme." Erskine called out racing up the steps in front of the pod, "Steven!"

"Shut it down!" Peggy called out as she came from the booth, "Shut it down!" She said again and Erskine turned swiftly to Howard.

"Kill the reactor Mr. Stark!" He ordered, "Turn it off, kill it! Kill the reactor!"

"NO!" Both Steve and Starlyn called out, "Don't, I can do this!" Steve exclaimed, Starlyn didn't say anything knowing that there was no possible way that the procedure could be stopped or Steve would never become Captain America.

With little hesitation Erskine turned to Howard with a swift nod and Howard moved back to the wheel and pretty much turned it up the last 30% all at once so that the process could be finished as quickly as they could, "That's 100%." Howard called out and at that moment the electronics started to spark with the power running through the systems and suddenly the lights disappeared and the system powers down.

"Mr. Stark?" Erskine questions the man on opening the pods and they both started to open slowly revealing the new bodies that laid inside, though Starlyn just went back to her normal size which was pre-serum anyway and since she didn't get the real stuff, except the one left vial. She couldn't let it get into the wrong hands so she swapped out one of her water vials with the spare serum vial so she does in actual fact have the serum going through her system now. Hopefully there wouldn't be any side effects to having it added to her mutant DNA.

Everyone stared in wonder as tiny, skinny, sickly Steve was now being revealed as tall, buff and seemed to be in very good shape, Erskine hurried over to the panting Steve, helping the man from the pod, "Steven. Steven." Everyone in the booth rushed down to the floor to see the two that were given the successful serum procedure.

"I did it." Steve panted in disbelief as he was helped down the steps by Howard and Erskine.

"Yeah, yeah." Erskine agreed as one of the doctors brought Starlyn over to where they were and let her lean on Steve, "I think we did."

"You actually did it." Howard said in disbelief as he took over holding on to Starlyn as Peggy came to the front of the pack to see Steve in his new glory.

"How do you feel?" She questioned the pair but her eyes were steadily on Steve's new physique and that caused a small smile to appear on Starlyn's face at the interaction.

Steve looked around the room with new eyes considering how bad his eye sight had been before and how he could see over the top of most people's heads, "Taller." He puffed as a nurse came forward with a shirt for him to put on.

"Yeah I don't have to look down at you anymore." Starlyn laughed as she 'weakly' punched him in the arm.

Steve huffed a laugh, "No kidding, now I get to pick you up in a hug." He responded. The conversation was soft between them, nothing could be known about who was really behind the mask until they were alone.

Peggy wanted to touch the new and improved Steve but took the shirt from the nurse instead, "You look taller." She said handing him the shirt so he could cover up.

"How do you like Brooklyn now Senator." Phillips all but bragged as he made his way over to Steve and Starlyn.

"I can think of some people in Berlin who are about to get pretty nervous." The Senator said after Phillips with a smile on his face.

Erskine took the accolades from the other men in the room, telling him of how good of a job he had done and accomplished with the Serum and what it could mean for the people of America and could turn the tide of the war. Upon shaking Brandt's hand he noticed the aide standing over near the stairs, a lighter in his hand and with a flick the booth blew up causing everyone to get down in a panic.

"Stop him!" Erskine called out as the aide grabbed the vial of serum and raised his gun, shooting in to the crowd, twice hitting Erskine in the chest before taking off up the stairs, Peggy hot on his heels, Steve and Starlyn hurried over to the downed man.

"Is there anything we can do?" Starlyn questioned as she tried to staunch the blood flow, knowing that the man was dying. Erskine looked up at them with a small smile and pointed at Steve's chest, reminding him to follow his heart as he had always done in the past. Starlyn gave a watery smile, "I'll make sure he stays on track Abraham, of this you have my word." She said holding the man's hand, she could see the pain on Steve's face as the light left Erskine's eyes and Steve took off after the man and Peggy.

Peggy ran out onto the street, just missing the flying bullets that had taken out the Agent's staged outside and some civilians as the car raced off with the serum, Peggy steadied herself, raising her gun she readied the shot when a car blew up behind her, shaking the shot for a moment before she turned back and took her shot, killing the driver and causing the car to veer into some parked cars and come to a stop.

The man that took the serum got into the taxi that had hit them as well, and took off back toward where Peggy was walking calmly down the road with her gun raised, she stopped, taking a steady aim as the car sped closer, shooting but missing the man when Peggy was grabbed by Steve, "I had him." Peggy snapped at Steve as he stood and started to run after the car.

"Sorry!" He called back as he took up speed, running faster than he had ever ran before, considering he couldn't run without his breathing being upset by the exertion, he kept running, the adrenaline pumping. Steve turned quickly, taking one of the side streets keeping an eye on the yellow taxi as he ran. He was not as steady on his feet as he came up to a turn and crashed into a bridal store, taking out the shop window and mannequins, Steve quickly jumped back out the window, "Sorry!" He called back running off once again.

Steve kept running, doing a magnificent jump as he came across a locked fence in an alley, but that didn't stop his stride as he kept going after the man that killed Erskine, dodging traffic as he ran before having to take to jumping on the top of the vehicles to get to the taxi, once close enough he jumped and landed on the roof, holding on. The driver weaved trying to throw Steve off but he was holding on tight when the driver decided to take a different tactic and started shooting at Steve through the roof of the cab, Steve slid off to the side and wound up holding on to the passenger side door, dodging the bullets when the car hit a truck and started to flip down the road Steve having had let go before the car landed on the side that he was holding on to, the door of the taxi falling off as the car tumbled.

Steve was on his feet quickly as the man stumbled out of the taxi aiming his gun at Steve, at the sounds of gunshots the crowd scattered with screams. Steve quickly grabbed up the car door as a shield from the bullets when he decided to take a hostage, "No, no, not my son!" The mother cried out as he took the child away he kept shooting over at Steve who took cover from the shots, holding his side. He crept around the wall, keeping an eye on the man who now had a hostage.

Steve took a deep breath, he was concerned about the boy being held hostage, he was angry at the man that killed Erskine, he was happy because he could now run without any troubles, most of all he needed to get the child and stop the man before he got away. Steve ran up to where the man had turned and peeked around the corner and saw that he was now holding the gun to the boys head, "No, wait don't!" Steve said coming around the corner, his hands held up in surrender.

The man turned his gun one Steve and shot, but all there was, was a click of an empty magazine, knowing that he didn't have the ammo he threw the boy into the water and took off down the dock, Steve ran over to the edge looking down, "Go get him, I can swim!" The boy told him and started to swim for the ladder and Steve took off without a second thought and saw the man get into a small one man sub and swiftly jumped into the water swimming after the sub, grabbed a pole sticking out of the top, possible radio antenna or steam valve, and smashed his fist through the glass flooding the compartment and then pulled the top off and dragged the man back up to the surface and throwing him out of the water onto the pier where he tried to attack again and with one well-placed knee to the face by Steve he went down, the serum vial breaking.

"Who the hell are you?" Steve growled as he held the man by the scruff of his coat.

"The first of many." He responded, "Cut off one head," His tongue pulled at one of his teeth removing it from his gum and bit down on it, "two more shall take its place." He said through gritted teeth as he started to froth at the mouth much to Steve's confusion, "Hail HYDRA." He managed to get out before dying in Steve's grip.


	11. Tights, Heels and Capture

Starlyn paced next to the body of Erskine, growling at anyone that got near enough to the man, there was no way in hell that just anyone was going to go near the scientists body and do God knows what. All she wanted to do was inject some of her blood into Erskine's system and do chest compressions until the blood took and he would be alive and well, but then that would raise more questions than either of them could or would have answered.

Peggy walked over to Starlyn, "Steve is back." She told her.

"It doesn't matter, the guy didn't get the serum." Starlyn muttered, "I swapped it out with a vial of blue coloured water." She explained at the confused look that Peggy had given her, Starlyn sighed, "I had a gut feeling that something was wrong so I swapped out one of the fake vials that was injected into me with the last vial."

"I'm confused." Peggy admitted.

"You already know I looked like this before, but Erskine and I had to put on a show and that was by 'injecting' me with just blue water, so I'll probably be peeing blue for a while but I was also injected with the last of the physical vial of the serum."

Peggy looked thoughtful for a while, "Is the serum going to effect your… mutation?"

Starlyn sighed, "I don't know, I guess we won't know until something happens where the serum may activate something." She said as she leant against the bed that held the body of Erskine.

"Would it be good or would it be bad?" Peggy questioned.

"That's the question isn't it?" Starlyn admitted.

"Come on, we should see what Steve has to say." Peggy said and started from the room, Starlyn followed after but stopped by an MP.

"You watch over him, do not let anyone near him." She ordered, "If you let anyone of those vultures near him I will have your guts for garters." She growled and watched as the MP's did as they were told before catching up with Peggy to see Steve.

The pair walked into the medical suite where they were taking many vials of blood from Steve, they had topped off at 12 vials, the nurse and doctor were periodically looking over papers and the vials, Starlyn gave a low growl at the thought of why they were doing it and if Erskine were alive he would be spitting chips at Steve being subjected to this.

"You've got more than enough." Starlyn snapped as she came over and stayed the nurse's hand from taking any more blood.

"That isn't for you to decide." The doctor spoke up.

Starlyn moved over to the doctor, a hand wrapped around his throat, "It is for me to decide actually." She growled, "With Doctor Erskine dead I am next in charge whether anyone likes it or not. Now you have enough blood to do what needs to be done, you will be leaving my brother alone from now on."

A large hand came over her hand, "Let him go Star, its fine." Steve told her as she relaxed her grip and let the other doctor go.

"It has to be done Starlyn, any hope of reproducing the serum is locked in Steve and Fatale's genetic code, but without Erskine it would take years." Peggy explained to the pair.

"He didn't deserve this." Steve muttered as he went to the view window where he could see Howard working on the mini submersible and Phillips and Brandt were walking toward them.

"If it could work only once, he'd be proud that it was you." Peggy told him with certainty while Starlyn rolled her eyes.

"There are others you know." Starlyn muttered, "Those that had Erskine first will also be trying to crack or improve his serum." Peggy and Steve turned their attention to Starlyn, Starlyn rolled her eyes, "Honestly, HYDRA had Erskine first remember, before he came to the SSR. Well they probably still have Erskine's preliminary notes about the serum and are trying to crack it."

"That is not good." Peggy said standing alert at what Starlyn had just explained, "We need to let Colonel Phillips know immediately." She said and started out of the room with Starlyn and Steve following after her to catch up with Phillips.

"Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers as to what went wrong." Brant called after Phillips.

"Great, why don't we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" Phillips questioned as they came to a stop in front of Howard and the mini-sub, "What have we got here?"

"Speaking modestly, I am the best mechanical engineer in the country. But I don't know what was used to make this thing or how it actually works." Howard explained, "We aren't even close to being able to use this kind of technology."

"Then who is?" Brandt questioned.

"HYDRA." Phillips responded and turned to look at Brandt, "I'm sure that you've read our briefings?"

"I'm on a number of committees Colonel."

"Hydra is a Nazi deep-science division." Peggy spoke up seeing as this was as good a time as any, "It's led by Johann Schmidt but he has much bigger ambitions than what Hitler is even aware of."

"Hydra's practically a cult, they worship Schmidt." Starlyn spoke up, "They think he's invincible."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Brandt asked, he wasn't going to get his hands dirty on this one.

"I spoke to the President this morning." Phillips said turning from Brandt to continue walking, "As of today the SSR is being re-tasked."

"Colonel?" Peggy said confused by what Phillips was talking about.

"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agent Carter." Phillips ordered, "You too Stark." He added, "We're flying to London tonight."

"Sir?" Steve spoke up, "If you're going after Schmidt then we want in." He said speaking up for himself and Starlyn.

"You're an experiment." Phillips told Steve point blank, "And you're going with him to Alamogordo along with the Fatale."

"The serum worked Colonel." Starlyn stated.

"I asked for an army and all I got was you and a woman that won't be used." Phillips sneered, "Neither of you are enough." He said and stalked off.

"God damn son of a bitch." Starlyn snarled, her teeth grinding.

Brandt walked over to Steve and Starlyn, "With all due respect to the Colonel, I think that we may be missing the point." Starlyn knew what was coming, how could it not, it was how the comic books came into being after all, "I've seen you in action Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it." Brandt told Steve, "Paper." He called to his aide, the aide scuttled over pulling papers out of his briefcase, "The enlistment lines have been around the block." He said as the aide pulled out the newspaper, "Since your picture hit the newsstands. You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that and hide him in a lab, same could be said for the Fatale. Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?" Brandt questioned as he led Steve from Starlyn and Peggy.

"Steve won't be going to the battlefield." Starlyn whispered to Peggy, "Brandt is going to use him to sell Bonds and I guess I'm going to have to go with him."

"How do you…?" Peggy trailed off, "Oh, right." She remember her swift conversation in the janitor closet with Starlyn, "I'm going to need a more in depth explanation later you know."

Starlyn gave the other woman a smile, "Of course."

"That's all I want to do Sir." Steve told Brandt.

"The congratulations, you just got promoted." Brandt said shaking Steve's hand.

Starlyn shook her head, "He has no idea what he's just gotten himself into." She muttered.

"Nurse Rogers?" Brandt called over to the woman.

"First Lieutenant Rogers if you please Senator." Starlyn responded walking over to where Steve and Brandt were standing, "What can I do for you sir?"

"If you could please get Miss Fatale so we can explain what is happening."

"Of course sir." Starlyn responded and with a wink to Steve went off to 'collect' Fatale from where she was sequestered away.

Starlyn sighed as she pulled off her lab coat and her uniform and pulled on a simple black outfit and put the mask on before going back out to where everyone was waiting, "First Lieutenant Rogers was called away." She intoned drolly, "What can I do for you Senator?"

Brandt gave to pair of them a smile, "Come with me and we'll talk."

* * *

Starlyn couldn't believe what she was wearing, she really couldn't. What Steve was wearing was expected considering it's what is seen in the propaganda videos and posters but did she really need to wear the outfit that the dancers were wearing? Even though it was a little different than what the girls were wearing it was still close enough that she felt the need to pull down the skirt each time she moved. At least she had her mask on.

"I don't think I can do this." Steve muttered as he came over to Starlyn, running a hand through his hair.

"Nothing to it." The Senator's aide said coming over to Steve, "You guys sell a few bonds, those bonds buy bullets and those bullets kill the Nazi's." He explained, "Bada bing bada boom." He slaps Steve's back, "You're American heroes."

Steve took a deep breath, "This isn't the way I picture getting there." He mumbled.

"Everything will be fine Stevie, we'll get to where we are supposed to be don't worry." Starlyn whispered to Steve.

"The Senator has got a lot of pull up on the hill. You play ball with us and you'll be leading your own platoon in no time." The aide told him as Steve pulled on the Captain America cowl to cover his face, "Take the shield."

Steve took the shield and he was shoved out onto the stage with the girls and the music started up, " _Who's strong and brave, here to save the American way?"_ Steve read the queue cards on the back of his shield, "Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank. But there is still a way all of us can fight." He said moving forward on the stage.

" _Who vows to fight like a man for what's right, night and day?_ "

"Series E Defence Bonds, each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy's gun."

" _Who will campaign door-to-door for America? Carry the flag shore to shore for America?"_

Steve and Starlyn, on stage danced and pranced around according to the script, there was a scene coming up that the both of them dreaded though it could be done with a little sleight of hand thanks to the shield that Steve was using, as Steve dipped Starlyn for a kiss he made sure that it was in a way so that the shield covered them and only the dancing girls would see that it wasn't real.

After the show, with the tune stuck in her head the pair posed for photos with people of all ages as a part of the propaganda when they were shaking hands with Senator Brandt and the newspaper flash bulb went off. As they went back stage, they were able to take a breather from doing their own parts of the show, they were to be back out on stage in half an hour for the next show, there were people lining up around the block from what they were told, it seems in the short amount of time that the show had been advertised it had garnered a lot of popularity.

Starlyn rubbed her aching feet after kicking off her shoes, the little strappy heels that they had to wear were killing her feet, give her a cute pair of stiletto booties and she'd be fine parading around the stage selling bonds with her brother. "Good lord, those shoes are going to kill me before old age." She grumbled.

"You've probably got enough time to run down to the shoe store before we go back out there." Steve spoke up as he sat down next to her and took the foot that she wasn't massaging and started to do that for her.

"I might just do that, those shoes are a nightmare, I don't know how the other girls can do it."

"Probably because they are used to it and you're used to a different kind of shoe." Steve said, "How long do you think we'll be doing this?"

"At least a month, we've got some other cities in America to visit before we go overseas." Starlyn said pulling her shoes back on, "I'll be back soon then." She said grabbing her jacket and purse and headed out of the tent and toward the shoe store where she was able to buy a pair of stiletto booties that went with the outfit that she had on for the shows and got back in time for the next show.

And on it went going from city to city, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City just to name a few, and in between each city there was filming promo war videos and a little bit of time was spent signing autographs and letting themselves be sketched for the new 'Captain America and Lady Liberty' comics. That had made Starlyn laugh considering she was actually Australian born but seeing as for all intents and purposes she was supposed to be American they had to think of something that she was supposed to be called but really, couldn't they think of something else for her to be called.

"We're heading over." Steve cried out as he barged in to their hotel room.

"Huh?" Starlyn responded eloquently.

"We're taking the show on the road overseas, we'll finally be over there and maybe then we can finally join in on the action and do what we're supposed to be doing." He explained, "And maybe we'll be lucky enough to see Bucky while we're at it."

Starlyn gave Steve an indulgent smile, "When do we leave?"

"In three days, after our last show." He said and making sure that everything that needed to be packed was packed and only kept out enough clothes for the next three days.

"Well we'll make it the best show and make sure that we greet the soldiers with our best smiles." She said giving Steve an excited hug and kiss. Soon things would change for the both of them.

* * *

The sky that had earlier been clear and the bright full moon illuminating the field around them was now full of smoke, explosions, gun fire, screams of pain, screams of anger and rage and the yelling of orders between men and they all ran for cover in the fox hole before the remaining of them were killed.

Bucky, Dugan and Gabe jumped into the hole taking a five second breather before they had to turn and return fire, "There's got to be at least 5 more companies out there.

"Get on to B company and tell them we need cover." Bucky ordered Gabe.

"That might be tough." Gabe responded showing them the smoking radio.

"Bucky behind you!" Dugan called out and Bucky turned to where the gunfire was coming from and returning fire along with Dugan and Gabe while a few other men were diving into the fox hole for cover before they were shot.

Bucky was looking around after having shot at the wave that was coming from one way only to see more coming from the right, "Here they come!" He cried out moving over to get a better angle for firing at the enemy.

Dugan looked at his bowler and saw that there was a bullet hole in the rim of his hat, with a sneer on his face he moved over to where Bucky and Gabe were lining up, "I hate these guys." He grumbled and commenced firing on the incoming Nazi's when suddenly for each of their bullets a blue light took out at least two more Nazi's. Bucky stared at the scene in stunned amazement for a moment that was the blue light that he and Steve had seen in the alley when Starlyn arrived.

Just as suddenly as it happened the blue light was wiping out the rest of the Nazi's leaving everyone in the fox hole just staring at the scene in front of them in some sort of stunned awe at how fast they were taken care of, but the question was where they with them, the USA, or against them.

"What the hell was that?" One of the soldiers questioned as the all stood and started to climb out of the hole.

Bucky, Dugan and Gabe stood at the lip of the hole and watched a large unusual tank came of the crest of the hill, "Well that's… new." Dugan said as it came to a stop and moved the turret to where they were standing, Bucky's eyes widened, "DOWN!" He cried out and the three of them jumped back into the hole before the explosive hit them.

"Holy shit, what the fuck?!" Dugan yelled out.

Bucky's breath felt heavy in his chest, "I don't think we're going to get outta this one boys." He said to them, "Starlyn is going to go nuts."

"So what do you think? Death or capture?" Gabe questioned as he peeked over the lip of the hole and could see men in a different uniform coming toward them with the tank.

"Honestly I don't know guys but either way, it's not going to be good for us." Bucky said as he placed his gun down.

"What should we do Sarge?" Johnson questioned looking to Bucky as did the remaining men.

"If we wanna get outta this alive, I think that it's best that we surrender." Bucky said looking like he had swallowed a lemon, it was not something he wanted to do but if there was a way to save the few in his company and those of the other companies than surrender was the best way, "What say you?" He questioned those in the hole and every one nodded their agreement to surrender. Taking a deep breath Bucky put his hands up in the air and slowly stood up and not making any sudden moves, when he wasn't immediately shot at the rest of the men also slowly stood to be faced with weapons pointed in their direction.

"Sorry Star, sorry Steve." Bucky muttered as they were all rounded up and bound.


	12. Working, Beatings, Illness and Chosen

The remaining men were loaded into some transport trucks with armed guards watching over them and making sure that no words are muttered between them. It was a long journey and those that could do it while being under armed, enemy, forces managed to sleep while they still could while others kept watch on what the guards were doing, Bucky was one of those few, if he could learn their patterns then maybe, just maybe they might be able to get out of the situation they were currently stuck in.

Hours later the trucks slowed down before coming to a stop and the grating of steel could be heard before the trucks started to move again, it seemed that they had finally arrived at their 'prison'. They were all hauled out of the trucks and herded into what they could see was a factory that seemed to be running on all cylinders, as they walked they were shoved unceremoniously in to small round cells where they were locked in and left alone with only 3 armed guards watching them.

Day in and day out there were taken down to the manufacturing plant where they were put to work, hard labour and long hours started to wear down on the POW's, especially with so little rations that they were getting to keep them strong and healthy. Then there was the fact of being beaten on and off by the guards, Bucky was getting the worst of it from Colonel Lohmer.

Bucky walked over to the line where he was set up to work, he had been separated from Dugan and Gabe not long after they had arrived, obviously the guards thought they were planning something, which they were, so they were separated early on but that didn't stop them from talking once they were returned to their cages. Picking up the tools he started working on what was on his line, this piece slotting in to this one, another going into that one before moving it on to the other table for them to continue with building whatever it was they were building for them.

A sudden commotion broke Bucky out of his routine of slot A into slot B and he looked around to see what was happening and saw that a couple of guards were beating into Johnson for some reason or another, though they didn't really need a reason. Dropping what he was doing Bucky rushed over to where it was happening and started to fight the guards beating Johnson, Dugan and Gabe joining in to help when a shot sounded throughout the warehouse and everyone froze.

"What is going on here?" Lohmer questioned in his heavy accent as he stalked through the isle toward the group.

Bucky sneered and knowing that he shouldn't say anything but couldn't help it, "Maybe if your men would stop beating us willy nilly for only breathing then maybe we'd get the shit you want done on time, done." He snapped.

Lohmer looked at Bucky not saying a word and stalked over to where the group was, it seemed that his guards had taken more of a beating in those few minutes than the soldier they were beating did and this didn't bode well for the POW's, though it didn't bode well for his men either, getting taken down by three American's when there was 6 of them if just proved that the American's trained their men well.

With the movements of a snake and striking with the fierceness of one, Lohmer brought his baton down on Bucky's body with no remorse, strike after strike hitting him, bloody flowing down Bucky's face from the strike to his head, snapping of bone could be heard as the baton came down in his arm before there was darkness and a last thought of 'Star is going to kill me'.

When Bucky woke up he was in his cell with the others and all he could feel was pain radiating through his body as he tried to move from his prone position when hands appeared and gently held him down, "Don't move Jimmy." He could hear from a cell over.

"Don't call me Jimmy, Dum Dum." Bucky grumbled knowing that it was Dugan that had said his most hated name.

"Alright Buck, but don't move, Lohmer gave you one hell of a beat down while you were out of it, you're going to be in quite a bit of pain for a while there." Dugan explained, "We tried to clean your cuts up the best we could and one of the men with us in the cages is a medic so he set what bones he could as well but you're not going to be able to move them too much while they heal."

Bucky breathed out, "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad man." Johnson spoke up, "You should have just let them wail on me."

"Nah kid, couldn't do that, it ain't my style." Bucky responded but ended up coughing a little bit and let out a yelp of pain as he did, "Broken ribs?" He questioned.

"Yeah Buck, they are going to be hell on you doing any work." Gabe told him with a small smile.

"This won't be the first time that I've had to work with a broken rib or two." Bucky commented, "Used to get in a lot of fights back in Brooklyn and I was a boxing champ so it's a given to be injured sometimes."

"I can see that happening." Dugan spoke up, "You look like the type."

Bucky gave a snort of laughter, "It actually wasn't me that got into the fights, it was my buddy Steve, he's a magnet for it. He's like 90 pounds soaking wet and 5 foot 2 inches, just a little guy but he hated bullies and made sure that they knew what he thought about it." He could hear the sounds of disbelief coming from the men he knew and had fought beside, "Seriously, I'm not kidding, if it wasn't for Starlyn things would have probably gotten worse than what they already were."

"She's going to kill you for this isn't she?" Gabe questioned.

"If I get through this, yeah she will."

"You got a girl?" Came the questioning British voice of Lt. Colonel James Falsworth.

"Nah, she's my best friend's sister and quite a woman but she isn't mine. She's a nurse." He explained but he, Dugan and Gabe knew it was something else.

"Yeah quite the woman alright." Dugan commented, "The day when Bucky got shot and we got him to the base hospital she was there and boy did she have something to say about Bucky getting shot, she hit him over the back of the head and said something like 'you really did take all the stupid with you' and then went back to the med tent to help out there before coming back out because the idiot over there didn't go in for surgery when he should of. If I was nurse Rogers I would have poked and prodded the bullet wound a few times for him being an idiot." He explained.

"If we ever get the chance to meet her, whatever you do, do NOT call her a dame Dugan made that mistake and ended up having to have a FULL physical." Gabe spoke up with a laugh.

"I'm still shaking off that physical." Dugan grumbled with an exaggerated shudder.

"Good thing sir, is that for the next couple of days you won't be working." Johnson chirped from his cell.

"Oh good." Bucky sighed.

* * *

Bucky moved slowly around his work station, his body protesting quite a bit from the activity of his job, and to top it off he was starting to get sick and without the proper care it was just going to get worse and he knew that from his time with looking after Steve.

Lohmer was walking through the floor of the factory watching everyone, all the POW's made sure that they weren't talking or even humming as they worked lest they get the same treatment that Bucky had gotten but there were a couple that were doing something at the other end of the factory.

Dernier with the help of Falsworth had calmly coated one of the machines with a corrosion agent and it was slowly working its way through the metal and hopefully in enough time for when Lohmer got down to their section. Dernier and Falsworth continued on with their work, watching as Lohmer kept coming down to their section and then over at the metal that was corroding.

Bucky was breathing heavily as he worked on his station, he could feel the heat of a fever starting and he could feel beads of sweat that wasn't from heat but he wasn't going to let that hold him back from working because as soon as they stopped working they go through the mysterious door at the end of the cell block and never come back out.

"You doing alright there bub?" A rough voice questioned from across the work bench.

Bucky looked over at the man who stood at about 5 foot 5 inches if that, his hair looked like an owl and he was quite scruffy looking, more so then the rest of the men, it was like it was always his natural look, "Yeah, I'll be fine." Bucky lied as he went back to work but had to hold himself up before the tipped over.

Bucky looked up in time to see the man's nose twitch and him release a breath, "Nah bub, ya ain't goin' ta be fine. Yer sick as a dog."

"Well I'm just going to have to be okay, if not then I won't be coming back from behind those doors." Bucky grumbled as he went about his work, "What's your name?" He questioned.

"Ya can call me Howlett."

"Bucky." The man now known as Howlett nodded and went back to his work before any of the guards could catch them talking and give Bucky another beat down causing his injuries to get worse or for them to try and beat down Howlett and find out about how different he really was from everyone else.

A sudden nails on a chalk board sound echoed throughout the warehouse, yells of the guards and a sudden sound of something heavy hitting the ground Bucky and Howlett turn to see that some machinery had fallen and right on top of Lohmer, squashing the man into a bloody puddle.

"Guess we won't have to worry about him anymore." Howlett muttered as the guards rushed around rounding up the POW's and herding them back to their cells so that they could investigate and clean up the mess so that the men could get back to work.

* * *

Arnim Zola walked the platform above the assembly factory at the progress that had been made by the POW's that they had and it wasn't as much progress as he had been hoping that they would be further ahead than what they were and now Lohmer was dead putting things even further behind than they already were. Herr Schmidt would not be pleased at all, the Valkyrie should have been close to finished by now and his progress with Erskine's serum was also behind as he hadn't found the right subject.

Zola watched as one of the man collapsed at his work bench, leaning over the railing to get a better look he could see that it was the man that Lohmer had beaten over 2 months ago before his 'death', HYDRA soldiers hurried over and kicked the man to get him up again, the other man using the station with him growled something at the men but they took the butt of their gun to his head as well.

"Enough." Zola called down and watched as the men stopped what it was they were doing and looked up at the scientist, "Bring him to my lab." He said and walked toward his lab so that he could see the man and what he was going to be working with.

Zola pulled out some blank papers from his draw and grabbed a pen so that he could write down everything that he was going to do to the man that was being brought to him, but first he would need to do a full physical before he could go on with his experiments.

"Herr Doctor?" One of the soldiers said getting the little man's attention, the POW was prone hanging between them.

"Put him down over there." Zola said pointing over at his 'O.R' where they could put the man and then leave, "You may leave." He says once the POW is strapped down to the table.

Zola moved about quickly, taking the man's blood pressure, checking reflexes the best he could with him strapped down, doing some x-rays and documenting everything about the man he was going to be experimenting with. At that moment he had 'walking' pneumonia and a couple of healing bones that were aligned properly with only one slightly out of place. Zola put all of the papers in a manila folder before moving onto the first of many injections that he was going to be doing to the man now that he knew the possible measurements of the serum and exposer of the cubes energy for the serum to be activated. But first he had to give the man some antibiotics to get rid of the pneumonia so that the experiment could begin.

Bucky's eyes fluttered open, only for them to close quickly at the bright light that appeared above him and let out a groan and tried to roll over but couldn't, his eyes snapped open and he groggily looked down at himself and saw that he was strapped down to an operating table. Bucky could feel himself start to panic, he was captured and made to work and now, God knew what was going to happen to him now.

"Ah, good, you are awake." Came an accented voice from behind him.

Bucky cranes his head around to try and see where the voice was coming from but couldn't really see much of the man until he walked over to where Bucky could see him, "Who are you and where am I?" He questioned, his voice hoarse.

The man raised an eyebrow at the questioning, "I am Doctor Arnim Zola and you are in my lab." He explained as he came over to Bucky, causing him to flinch away was Zola neared to check on him, "Now that you are well we can begin."

"Begin? Begin what?" Bucky questioned, "How long have I been here?"

"You have been here for two weeks getting over pneumonia and as to what I am beginning, well it's going to be HYDRA's greatest accomplishment." Zola explained, he was quite giddy, he just had a feeling that his man would be the one that would survive where the others didn't.

"HYDRA can go to hell." Bucky spat at Zola as he watched the man fiddle with some instruments that were looming over his prone form.

"HYDRA will never die." Zola informed him with a proud smile as a multi needle gun started it's decent into Bucky's chest and Bucky's scream echoed throughout the halls.


	13. USO Madness and A Flight Plan

Here is the next chapter to the story. The action will be picking up now lol. Please let me know what you think, i really really need to know what you guys think about what i have done and how i am doing xoxo

* * *

Starlyn looked out over the scene in front of her as she and Steve were driven to their next USO show. It had been nearly three months now since they started the show and they were no closer to hopefully seeing Bucky but they were heading to Azzano so hopefully they would see him then or talk to someone that could tell them if he was MIA or KIA.

"Phillips is at Azzano, maybe he could tell us something after the show." Steve said comfortingly as he rubbed Starlyn's back. They were both very worried something bad had happened to Bucky.

A few hours later they arrived with the chorus girls at the Azzano base they got dressed up and ready to put on their show, Steve and Starlyn had taken a few minutes together as the girls did their opening act, each partaking in a drink.

The girls walked back to the back stage area and that was Steve's queue to head out for his portion of the show. The show overseas was set up a little different than what they had done in America as it was more catered to the children and embellishing on buying war bonds to help out the guys overseas.

Starlyn listened as Steve tried to start up his act, he wasn't getting a thing out of the men that were sitting there watching the show, as Steve talked all she could hear was the men asking for the girls again so Starlyn got up and walked out onto the stage and took a stand next to her brother and that calmed down the men enough.

"Hello gentlemen." Star starts, "What companies do we have with us today?" She questioned looking out over at the men.

"Who cares?" One of the men called out, looking over to where the voice came from she saw that it was Hodges running his big mouth.

"I care." Star stated simply, "How can we possibly acknowledge who has help us in this war if we don't know who is left." She simply stated.

"There are a few companies here ma'am but none have been through more than the 107th." A young black man spoke up from the front and Steve and Starlyn's gaze snapped down to him.

"What happened to the 107th?" Steve questioned but the young man wouldn't respond.

Star was taking some deep calming breaths, "Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes." She said over the sound system, "One of the soldiers of the 107th had best tell me now where he is or I will start hurting people." She said with a growl in the voice.

"And as I said before 'who cares'." Hodges said again.

Starlyn growled and leapt off of the stage and went straight for Hodges and lifted him up by his throat, "I want to know where Sergeant James Barnes, otherwise known as Bucky, is right this instant before I start ripping limbs." She addressed the crowd as they looked on in stunned amazement.

"Ma'am, I think that it may be best that you head to Colonel Phillips." Another soldier said to her, he looked beat to hell.

"What about Timothy Dugan and Gabe Jones?" She questioned as Steve finally arrived behind her and placed a hand on her arm that was still grasping at a gaping Hodges and she let him drop the foot to the ground beneath him.

"Please ma'am, go to the Colonel." He said again and he looked weary and it was then that she knew that something bad had happened to Bucky, Dugan and Gabe.

"I fucking warned Bucky if something felt hinky he should run the other fucking way, regardless of if he would be court martialled he should have fucking ran." Star growled and took off for the back stage area, "You lot head back out, the boys want you." She told the chorus girls and they quickly did as they were told and Star moved over to another area to take a breather before she went anywhere near Phillips because there would be a possibility that the man wouldn't remain breathing.

"Are you alright?" Steve questioned as he sat down next to her, he had taken off his cowl and thrown on a jacket.

"No not really." Star sighed and lent into Steve's side and he pulled her to him for comfort.

"Shouldn't you have known this was going to happen?" Steve innocently questioned.

"Not really, I mean it was something significant but we learnt more about the English/Australian involvement in the war that what the American's were doing. I also can't remember everything, sometimes it'll come later. Now that I know that Bucky had been captured I remember what the hell happened and that you end up going to rescue him and you do, so there is some good news, he's not dead yet." Starlyn explained.

"Then we should go and talk to Phillips and see when we can get out there with some men." Steve told her as the rain started to fall and stopping the show causing all of the girls to come running and heading over to their tent.

"I think I should wait a little bit more before I do that, I'm still wired enough do something and we can't have that." Star explained, "I'm going to go and change and head to the med tent and see if they needed a little help there before we go and see Phillips." She said and went over to the tent she and Steve shared and changed and took of the mask so that she was once again just Starlyn Rogers instead of the Femme Fatale or Lady Liberty.

Steve sat under the tent with his scrap book balancing on his knee while drawing a performing monkey wearing his suit and holding his shield, it's exactly what he felt like and it's exactly what he was, he was a performing monkey for Brandt.

"Hello Steve." Came the British tilt of Peggy Carter from behind him.

Steve turned to see her standing there with her wool overcoat hanging from her arm as she stood there, "Hi."

"Hi." Peggy responded as she moved over to sit down.

"What are you doing here?" Steve questioned.

"Officially I'm not here at all." She explained, "That was quite the performance."

"Yeah." Steve mumbled, "I had to improvise there a little bit." He explained, "The crowds I'm used to are usually more ah, twelve."

"I understand that you and Starlyn are 'America's New Hope'." Peggy commented.

"Bond sales that a 10% bump in every state we visit." Steve recited.

"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?"

"At least he's got me doing this, but he's holding Star back from her job. Phillips would have me stuck in a lab."

"And they are you're only two options?" Peggy wondered, "And Star could have stopped at any time she wanted to, she just chose to stay with you." She said, "You were meant for more than this." Steve just looked around at the landscape not really saying anything, "What?" Peggy prompted.

"For the longest time I had dreamt of this, of coming overseas and being on the front lines, serving my country. I finally had gotten everything that I've wanted and here I am wearing tights." He explained to her and the movement around the med tent caught his attention and he thought about what they had learned while trying to do the show, "Come on, we need to get Starlyn and see Phillips." Steve said standing and headed over to the med tent and waved Star over to him, "Let's go and see Phillips." Starlyn nodded her head in agreement and followed after Peggy and Steve through the rain to the tent Phillips was using.

"Colonel Phillips." Steve said as he walked into the tent with a purpose, Peggy and Starlyn behind him.

"Well if it isn't the Star Spangled Man With A Plan." Phillips mocked, "What is your plan today?"

"I need the casualty list from Azzano." He demanded.

"You don't get to give me orders son." Phillips calmly responded.

Star stepped forward with a dangerous scowl on her face, "We need one name, Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th."

Phillips looked over to Peggy and pointed his pen at her, "You and I are going to have a conversation later that you will not enjoy." He told her.

"She didn't tell us Phillips." Star snapped, "One of the men of the 107th did. Now tell us if he is alive, sir. B-A-R…"

"I can spell." Phillips quickly interrupted as he looked down at the letters that he had been signing, "I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count." He told them, "But that name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."

Starlyn let out a choked noise and fell to her arse in shock, Peggy moved over to Star to offer her some sort of comfort as Steve stood there looking at the Colonel before he spoke, "What about the others?" He asked, "Are you planning a rescue mission?"

"Yeah, it's called 'winning the war'." Phillips responded.

"But if you know where they are why not at least…"

"They're 30 miles behind the lines." Phillips interrupted, "Through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe, we'd lose more men than we could save." He explained, "But I don't expect you to understand that because you're just a chorus girl."

At this Starlyn stood and stomped over to Phillips, "You know nothing." She spat, she could feel the animal inside her fighting to get loose, Steve moved quickly to pull her back so that she wouldn't do anything to Phillips.

"I think we understand just fine." Steve responded primly.

"Then understand it elsewhere, you have a show in 30 minutes if the posters were correct." Phillips said and turned his back on the pair, Steve stared at the map for a little bit longer before he pulled Star out of Phillips tent, "If you have something to say, right now is the perfect time to keep it to yourself." Phillips spoke up to Peggy as she clued into what Steve was thinking.

Steve and Star quickly headed over to the costume tent and pulled on their outfits from the show, if this was going to become a thing, they were going to have to update the costumes so that they weren't stage flashy Peggy came running into the tent and pulled off her coat.

"What do you plan to do?" She questioned them, "Walk to Austria?"

"If that's what it takes." Steve responded.

"You heard the Colonel, it is more than likely that your friend is dead."

"You don't know that Peg." Star spoke up as she threw on her jacket again, "I'm going to see what I can sneak out of the med tent, were going to need medical supplies." She said and swiftly disappeared out of the tent to do just that.

"Even so, he's devising a strategy. If he detects…"

"By the time he's done that it could be too late." Steve snapped as he pulled on his leather jacket and grabbed his gear, he needed to head to the med tent to grab Star.

"Steve!" Peggy called following after him as he put this things in the truck that was nearby.

"You told me that you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?" Steve questioned her.

"Every word." Peggy said firmly.

"Then you've got to let us go." Steve said climbing in behind the wheel.

"I can do more than that." Peggy said standing near him and Steve looked at her in confusion.

Star came over to the truck with a medical bag with her, "What's going on?" She questioned.

"We're going to find Howard and he is going to get the pair of you where you need to be." Peggy explained as she pushed Steve over so that she could drive and Star jumped in back and they took off for where Howard was camping out.

"Hello everyone." Howard said as the trio walked into his tent and saw him reclined with a glass of bourbon in his hand, "What can I do for you this fine day?" He questioned.

"We need your plane." Peggy told him.

Howard raised his eyebrow, questioning, "And why would you need my plane?"

"We're going to go into enemy lines and rescue the rest of the 107th." Starlyn told him point blank, "Your plane would get us there a lot faster than any other way."

Howard sat up in his chair, "Sounds fun." He said throwing back the last of his drink and standing, "Let's go." He said and led them over to where his plane was sitting, "So where are we heading?" He asked as they climbed on board and Steve handed over the map with the coordinates to where they were heading and Howard whistled as he took a seat, "That's going to be dangerous." He responded.

"You don't have to Stark." Star spoke up.

Howard looked affronted, "I never said I wouldn't I said that it was going to be dangerous." He threw her a smile, "This is going to be fun." He said as he started the flight sequence before they were off and into the air.

"They HYDRA camp in is Krausberg," Peggy started to explain as she pointed it out on the map, "Tucked between these two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind." She said as Steve tightened the parachute.

"We should be able to drop you right on their doorstep." Howard called back.

"Just get us as close as you can." Starlyn called back as she pulled on her chute.

"You know the pair of you are going to be in a lot of trouble when you land." Steve said.

"And you guys won't?"

Starlyn snorted, "Where we're going if any one yell's at us we can just shoot them in response."

"They will undoubtedly shoot back." Peggy reminded.

"We'll, let's hope it's good for something." Steve said as he rapped his knuckles on the shield sitting next to him.

"Agent Carter?" Howard called, "If we're not in too much of a hurry, I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue."

Star rolled her eyes as she saw the look on Steve's face and the deep breath Peggy took, "Honestly." She mumbled under her breath.

"Stark is the best civilian pilot that I have ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace." Peggy told Steve and she looked over to Star to see her looking out the window at the world below, "We're lucky to have him."

Steve was silent for a moment, "So, are you two… Do you…" He floundered through what he wanted to ask his crush and Star had to smother the laughter that really wanted to come out and Peggy gave him a 'go on' look, "… Fondue?" This caused Star to stop breathing and head toward the back of the plane so that she could get herself under control, Steve was just so clueless.

Instead of responding Peggy pulled out a small box and handed it over to Steve, "This is your transponder, activate it when you are ready and the signal will lead us straight to you." She explained as he took it.

Steve looked at it dubiously, "Are you sure this thing works?" He questioned Stark.

"Stark is an impossible flirt but when it comes to his gadgets he knows what he's doing Steve." Starlyn spoke up coming over to them now that she had calmed down from Steve's fumbling.

"That's right and at this moment in time, it's gone through more tests than you have pal." Stark said just as there was a sudden barrage of fire from the ground coming at them, telling them that they had been sighted and the enemy was going to do what it could to bring them down.

"Alright Stevie, this is where we bow out." Starlyn said going to the door and Steve followed her.

"We're taking you all the way in." Peggy yelled after them as Star ripped open the door.

"As soon as we're clear you turn this bird around and haul ass outta here." Starlyn said.

"It's the only way." Steve agreed, "We can't have you risk anything more than you already have."

"You can't give me orders." Peggy told him.

Steve gave her a smile as Star jumped from the plane and he pulled his goggles down over his eyes, "Course I can, I'm a captain." He said and jumped. Peggy looked out the open door long enough to see two chutes open before she pushed the door shut and the plane banked Starboard and out of the line of fire.


	14. Freedom and Saving Bucky

The POW's had just finished their work, they had seen Schmidt walk through the factory with Zola checking on the progress that was being made, they were worn out and they were worn down, especially since Bucky had disappeared it brought down morale for a couple of men from the 107th, especially Johnson, he looked up to the older man.

Dugan wasn't moving fast enough for the HYDRA soldier so he pushed him forward and then pushed him again into his cell, purposely knocking off Dugan's hat as he was pushed in, "You know, Fritz," Dugan said as he put his hat back on, "One of these days, I'm gunna have a stick of my own." He said with a smile and the HYDRA soldier shut the door without a word.

* * *

Starlyn and Steve moved swiftly through the woods around them, hiding behind trees when it was needed and taking out those that they couldn't get past quietly when they finally came up to the road that led to the factory where the POW's were being kept.

"It's a fucking fortress." Starlyn muttered as they looked over the looming structure.

"Duck." Steve muttered as some trucks came in their direction and the pair of them ducked down behind some shrubbery.

As the last truck came to them they ran out and jumped in to the truck and came face to face with two HYDRA soldiers, "Fellas." Steve said and the two men launched themselves at the two. After a brief, very brief, fight the two soldiers were thrown, unconscious, from the truck and Steve and Star drove straight into the base.

The trucks drove around to where they were to drop off their cargo, Steve and Star waited for the time to jump out and move about the factory to try and find their friend. Steve had his shield up and slammed it into the face of the soldier that poked their head into the back of the truck, launching him back a few feet before the two of them jumped out of the truck and moved swiftly through the compound around many tanks and soldiers looking for the best way to get into the base.

Star takes the lead as she moves across the compound and climbs on to a lone tank and on to a flat roofed building and they ran toward the large factory looming in front of them. The pair moved swiftly through the corridors, ducking into doorways to avoid detection as they made their way through the factory. Coming to a doorway Steve peeked though and saw that it was full of paraphernalia that HYDRA were using for the war.

Weapons in hand Steve and Star moved swiftly through the factory, they hid themselves between some very large bombs as they moved, taking in everything that was around them and what was being moved out of the factory, they moved over to a table where there was some glowing blue ammunition sitting on the table and pocketed a couple of them to take back to Howard to study.

"This shit ain't good Stevie." Star hissed as they moved on and headed into another part of the building, hopefully to where the prisoners were being kept.

Finally the pair arrived above where the cells were and quickly took out the guards that were patrolling, one of them dropping on to the cells below alerting the prisoners that something was going on. Steve moved over to one of the guards they had taken out and pulled off the keys, "Who are you supposed to be?" Gabe questioned as the pair of them jumped down to be even with the prisoners.

"I'm Captain America." Steve finally responded, "That is Lady Liberty."

"I beg your pardon?" Falsworth questioned confused as Steve and Star opened their cell and the cells around them and everyone piled out happy to be free.

"What, are we taking everybody?" Dugan questioned as he saw an Asian man rubbing his wrists in front of him.

The Asian man pulled his tags from his top, "I'm from Fresno, Ace." He told Dugan curtly.

"Is there anybody else?" Steve questioned, "I'm looking for Sergeant James Barnes." He told them.

Starlyn walked over to Dugan and looked up at the red head, "Please Timothy, where is Bucky?" She questioned and she could see the confusion on Dugan's face as she spoke to him, it was harder for him to see it was Starlyn through his mask.

"Rogers?" He questioned softly, it finally click about where he had seen the eyes before, not he hadn't seen many people with two coloured eyes, and the fact she asked for Bucky gave her away.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one has ever come back from it." Falsworth spoke up from where he heard the questioned and the entire group started to walk.

"Alright." Steve said but he was a little distant, he was thinking about what to do, "The tree line is northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell." He told them and turned to Starlyn, "You help them out, I'll go and get Bucky and meet you outside."

Star shook her head, "No Steve, I go with you." She stated firmly.

Steve sighed and brought Star in for a hug, "Some of these men are injured and will require immediate medical aid, that's what you need to do while I go and get Bucky." They ignored the looks and whispers they were getting from the men surrounding them.

"Alright, fine, but if neither of you make it out I will come back in here and drag you both out by your ears." She said and gave Steve a kiss on the cheek, "Get our boy back."

"Wait?" Gabe called, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah. I've knocked out Hitler over 200 hundred times." Steve said absentmindedly and headed off to the direction that they pointed out that Bucky had been taken leaving behind confused looking soldiers.

"What?" Dugan questioned.

Starlyn looked at the boys and took off her mask, it didn't matter if they say her at the moment and by doing so it was obvious to her that some of the men recognised her from being in the med tent every now and then, "Don't worry too much about that boys, we need to haul ass outta here and get to a field not far from here where we can meet up with Cap." She told them and put the mask back on, "Balls to the walls boys, this is going to be ugly." She said and headed for the outside, making sure to pick up any weapons, be it pipes or rocks, for when they came across the enemy.

The group burst out of the factory into the outside for the first time in months and swiftly took out the first couple of HYDRA soldiers that they came across and took their guns while others ran for a couple of trucks, a couple of POW's had gotten shot down as they made their escape.

Starlyn moved swiftly through the mini battle field taking out as many HYDRA soldiers she could as swiftly as she could so that they wouldn't lose any more men to the HYDRA scum and she was sure that she didn't get put down for a few minutes and lose more men while she healed, she also checked the backs of a couple of the trucks to see what was in them and almost jumped for joy when she came across one with rations and a little water. Grabbing a running POW she shoved him in to the cab and with a quick word as to what was in the truck he was ready to bail when the gate was clear.

Dugan raced over to the tank while Frenchie and Morita took out a soldier with one of the blue weapons, "You know how to use that thing?" Morita questioned.

Frenchie shrugged and pulled the trigger and the pair watched as a bright blue light shout of the barrel of the gun and hit the side of the factory and took out nearly half of the wall, Frenchie looked at Morita in shock as Morita held his hands up in surrender, "Okay." Morita shrugged and the pair went back into the thick of things, taking out any HYDRA scum they came across.

Gabe quickly joined Dugan in the tank to see the man sitting in the driver's seat but not doing much of anything to get it moving, "Hey." Dugan greeted, "Not exactly a Buick."

Gabe quickly jumped in the second seat and looked over the control panel and pointed at a button, "That one. _Zundung_."

" _Zundung_." Dugan copied and pressed the button and laughed when the tank started.

"Get this thing going Dugan." Falsworth yelled as he climbed into the tank to join Gabe and Dugan and taking up his place at the fun, shooting at anyone from the other team coming at them.

"I didn't know you spoke German." Dugan stated to Gabe.

"Three semesters at Howard, switched to French, girls are much cuter." Gabe explained with a laugh.

"Didn't ask for a resume." Dugan responded as the tank started to move forward and Falsworth was up on the gun using it to take out any free transport as they headed for the gate while a few prisoners had headed back inside with some weapons to bring the pain to the people that had held them hostage and had beaten them.

Starlyn moved quickly after Morita and Frenchie, "Grab the grenades." She called as they ran up to some bikes and pulled said grenades free and launched them at the enemy, cutting down the forces a little bit more.

Starlyn stayed back a little from the men as they started a convoy with the tank at the front, she needed to make sure that they could get as many Allied soldiers out as possible, a shot to her thigh had her hissing in pain and turning her attention to where the shot had come from and saw a couple of HYDRA soldiers standing there watching her, with a growl Starlyn took off disappearing from the HYDRA soldiers sights and came back at them from behind and unleashed one set of claws and ripped through their flesh before they even knew what had hit them, their lifeless bodies fell to a heap on the ground. The bullet that was in Star's leg finally plopped out as the leg healed. "Goddamn Nazi pigs." She grumbled and went off to catch up with the convoy.

* * *

Steve moved through the factory, at this time he didn't care who saw him, he was a man on a mission and that mission was to locate Bucky, dead or alive, but obviously most definitely alive and he would take out anyone that would stand in his way and that is exactly what he did amidst the sirens and sounds of fighting going on around him.

Steve had finally made it to the hall that the men spoke about and as he walked down he came to a stop to see a little man standing further down the hall from his, staring back at him his briefcase tucked under his arm he quickly ran away from Steve. Steve hurried to make his way after the man but stopped at the door way that the man had come from and slowly and cautiously walked into the room.

"Sergeant. Three-two-five-five-seven." He could hear a quite mumbling coming from the back of the room, he moved over quickly to the table and looked down on the man he was looking for.

"Bucky?" He questioned and watched as Bucky's eyes opened, his pupils blown, "Oh my God!" Steve muttered and hurriedly ripped the straps holding Bucky down.

"Is… is that…" Bucky tried.

"It's me." Steve told him, "It's Steve."

"Steve?" Bucky mumbled thinking it was another hallucination.

"Come on." Steve said with a smile and helped his best friend up and let him lean against him. "I thought you were dead." He reluctantly admitted.

"I thought you were smaller." Bucky responded now able to stand a little more steadily.

"Come on." Steve said and pulled Bucky out of the room and back through the factory.

"What happened to you?" Bucky questioned.

"I joined the Army." Steve responded.

* * *

The entire group of POW's followed after the tank that Dugan drove with a couple of trucks behind them. The blue light from the cannon on top of the tank took out the guard tower and fence giving the men their escape route.

Star looked on from further away, making sure that those that were still walking actually walked out of this and didn't get taken out by the HYDRA soldiers, only a few times needing to move in to take care of the enemy before they took out the men, she also had to be careful about the blue light that was shooting from the weapons, she had already been hit by one of them at the edge of her shoulder at it had gone all the way down to her bones and still hadn't healed so she had a gaping wound on her shoulder and couldn't move that arm until it healed.

The line of men had finally made it out of the compound, the last of the HYRDA soldiers following behind them getting taken out by the men at the back of the line with Star taking out a couple as well and getting clipped by a few friendly bullets as she did, she pumped her legs faster past the convoy to the tank at the front and jumped up on to it startling Falsworth.

"Something we can help you with?" Falsworth questioned.

"Do you know where you're going?" She asked.

"Back to some sort of base?" Dugan yelled from below.

Star growled, "If you think I'm leaving Captain America and Bucky behind you have another thing coming Timothy Dugan, now you keep driving and go the directions I tell you or so help me I will rip you a new ass hole." She snapped much to the shock of Falsworth.

"Yes ma'am." Dugan responded.

"Besides, we are going to have to stop for a little while to patch up those that need it and see about using those rations as well." Star said as she tried to get comfortable.

"Shouldn't you take care of that?" Falsworth inquired as he pointed at the shoulder wound.

"Nah, it's fine, the blast cauterised it so I don't have to worry about it." She responded as they drove on with a few directions here and there.

Finally they came up to the clearing that she and Steve had decided to use as their meeting point when they came across it after they landed and made sure that all vehicles were lined up in a semicircle in the right direction before unloading.

"Alright, those of you who can, keep up a perimeter, we don't want the bastards getting the jump on us." Star yelled as she got down from the tank, "Those that are seriously injured I want you of here so I can get started on patching you up, if you have medical training of some sort I'll need your help, those that are wounded but can still walk, can you get the few rations there are in the trucks and start passing them out we won't be here for too long." At first no one moved, "NOW!" She gave some kind of yelling growl that got the men moving and doing what she had recommended.

"You going to be able to work with that arm?" Falsworth questioned as he, Dugan and Gabe came over to where she was standing.

"I'll be fine, I've been through worse and it's not even that bad." She said turning to the three and Falsworth could see that her shoulder wasn't as bad as it was when she had jumped up on to the tank and he saw it, this confused him slightly, no one's wound should start to heal that quickly.

"Will your buddy really be able to get Bucky outta that place if he's alive?" Gabe questioned.

"Bucky is alive, of that I have no doubt." Star said firmly, "Steve will raze the factory to the ground to find Bucky and get him out of there. Steve will NOT fail."

"What do you want us to do?" Dugan questioned.

"Just watch our six. We took out quite a few of their men but there could still be enough to come after us and I'd rather we watch out for them. Make sure that the men set up under the trucks instead of on top, if they're on top they'll be taken out by snipers easier." She explained to the three and they nodded and went to do what was recommended.

"I don't know about the pair of you, but it seems she knows a lot about this than what a nurse should know." Falsworth spoke up.

Gabe and Dugan hummed their agreement.

* * *

"Did it hurt?" Bucky questioned as Steve led him through the winding corridors.

"A little." Steve responded, "But I had Star with me so I wasn't alone."

"Is it permanent?"

Steve shrugged, "So far."

"How is Star?" Bucky questioned.

"She's fine, just worried about you."

"Star didn't worry about you going through this procedure?" Bucky wondered.

"She was a part of the team that put this whole thing together and to hide her abilities she faked going through the procedure with me so that if anything happened to make it so her abilities were revealed there was an explanation." Steve explained, "This is something that already happened in history for her, I became Captain America so she didn't really do anything that would have interfered with that happening."

Steve and Bucky stumbled as the factory shook with the force of the explosions and they came out on to one of the upper catwalks and watched as fire raged below them, Steve hurried over to some stairs and went up another level to hopefully find a way across and out of the factory.

"Captain America." Came a heavily accented voice from across the room, Bucky and Steve stopped to see Schmidt and Zola across from them standing at a door, "How exciting!" He exclaimed as he handed his briefcase over to Zola, "I am a great fan of your films!" Schmidt said stepping up on the walkway that connected the two sides, Steve copied the movement, "So, Doctor Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement but still, impressive." He mocked.

Steve not liking what he was hearing punched Schmidt, "You've got no idea."

Schmidt pulled himself up from the railing, "Haven't I?" He said moving to punch Steve and he brought the shield up in time for Schmidt to hit that leaving knuckle shaped dents in the shield, Steve moved to draw his side arm just as Schmidt punched him, causing Steve to fall to the walkway floor and lose his gun over the side, Schmidt took a step toward Steve who brought his legs up and kicked Schmidt roughly away from him and Zola moved quickly to hit the lever to separate the two side, causing both men to move away from each other.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see, I was his greatest success!" Schmidt exclaimed and ripped his face off, revealing a red skull under the mask.

"You don't have one of those do you?" Bucky questioned in queasy stunned awe.

"You are deluded Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier but I reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly." Schmidt exclaimed as he walked over to the lift, "Without fear!"

"Then how come you're running." Steve called back. Schmidt didn't respond, he just pressed the button for the door to close leaving Bucky and Steve behind in a burning factory, "Come on, let's go, up." Steve said hurrying Bucky up another level and stopped at a cross beam that had a crane hanging from it, "Let's go, one at a time." Steve said helping Bucky over and watched as his best friend slowly walked over the beam, the shaking from the explosions caused the beam to start to give way by the time Bucky had made it to the middle, another shake caused it to move even more so Bucky took a running leap for the opposite catwalk and made it just as the beam fell into the inferno below.

"Gotta be a rope of something!" Bucky called over to Steve.

"Just go, get outta here." Steve came back.

"NO! Not without you! Star would kill me."

Steve looked around to see if there was anything that could be used to help him get across to the other side but there was nothing, Steve pushed a broken pole out of the way so that where the once was a guard rail there no longer was, Steve took a couple of steps back and then ran forward and pushing of from the edge of the platform leapt across the gap and through an explosion of fire to the other side where he grabbed onto the rail, with Bucky grabbing on as well so that he didn't fall.

"That was close." Bucky muttered as Steve climbed over onto the platform.

Steve nodded his head, "Too close." He agreed, "Let's not tell Star." He said and the two of them headed out of the factory as quickly as possible to make the rendezvous with Star and the now freed POW's.


	15. Heading Back to Base and Gun Shot

Hey guys, here is another chapter and this one had Logan (Wolverine) in it but he is known as HOWLETT like in the wolverine movie, his name is James Howlett and he then changes his name to 'Logan' when he's had his memory wiped cause that is what's written on his dog tags.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Star patrolled around the camp once she had done all she could for the badly wounded, the others would just have to wait until they got back to base for any help, she was nervously chewing on her thumb nail as she waited for Steve and Bucky to join them and they were taking so long that she was tempted to head back to the factory after them.

A noise coming from her left caused Star to pause in her pondering and move over slowly to where the sound had come from and after walking for a few minutes she realised that her hearing had picked up something that was further away. Shaking her head at her own forgetfulness she took a deep breath and let her senses take over and by then knew that it wasn't one of theirs that was in the wood, it was one of them.

Moving lightly and swiftly to where the sound had come from Star released her claws so the enemy could be taken care of quickly and silently not to alert any of their friends to her presence if there were more around and this was just the scouting party. Quickly Star advanced on the three soldiers that she could see and scaled a tree so that she could check out to see if there was more than three and when there wasn't any more she moved through the trees quietly and when one of the soldiers got close to the tree she was in she would quickly take care of it and hang the body over a tree branch before going onto the others. Once they were taken care of Star headed back to the camp to get everyone to saddle up, they would meet Steve and Bucky down the road.

"Where the hell were you?" Dugan questioned.

"We need to pack up and haul ass, I just took out three scouts that were a couple of minutes out, there might be more coming so we need to go." Star explained as she started to pack up anything and everything, soon the man followed suit and they were packed up quickly, "Let's go." She called from the top of the tank and the line-up moved out of the clearing and down the road when they came across Steve and Bucky just standing there taking a breather. "About bloody time you two showed up." Star screeched as the convoy came to a halt again.

"Sorry about the wait, we had a little trouble getting out before it blew." Steve mumbled.

Gabe and Dugan popped their heads out the top of the tank and stared at Bucky in relief, "Jesus Bucky, you're going to kill us you know." Dugan muttered.

"Glad to see you in one piece." Gabe called down giving Bucky a smile.

"It's good to still be alive." Bucky responded.

"Shut up and get on board." Star snapped, "Took out a scouting party not long ago, who knows how many they have in their group." At that Steve and Bucky hurried on to the tank and the convoy was off once more.

"Wouldn't have anything to eat or drink would you?" Bucky questioned from where he sat below Star, tiredly leaning against the metal of the tank.

Star dug around her pack and pulled out a couple of protein bars and a canteen and handed them off to Bucky and then chucked a bar over to Steve, "How are you feeling?" She questioned as she reached down and ran her hand through Bucky's hair, Bucky let out a hummed sigh at the soothing motion.

"Once I have a shower, decent meal and somewhere better to sleep I'll be fine." Bucky responded taking Star's hand in his own and giving it a squeeze and not letting go until he needed to and ate his bars in silence.

It was 4 hours later that the convoy came to a stop and the men were left to rest while Star and Steve hoped that they were far enough away from the enemy to afford this break because those that were walking wounded needed the rest, even with them changing out every hour so they all got a fair share at being driven around and walking.

Johnson came over to where Steve, Star, Bucky, Dugan, Gabe and Falsworth were standing at the front of the tank, "We're out of water, we need to find more if we can." He explained interrupting any conversation that was going on, "Howlett said that there should be some water nearby."

Star nodded, "Get Howlett over here along with a couple of other able bodied men and some canisters for the water and he can lead us to where it is." She told Johnson and watched as he ran off to do as asked, "He's like a puppy." She commented lightly.

"He's a good kid." Bucky said with Dugan and Gabe agreeing, "Is Howlett right? Is there water nearby?" He questioned Star knowing that she'd know as well.

"Yeah, there is water nearby. You lot can keep an eye out for any danger while we're gathering water." She responded. ' _If Howlett is who I think he is then I'm just going to have to have a little talk with him, but not so much as to ruin the time line._ ' Star thought as Johnson joined them again this time with Howlett and three other men. Howlett was indeed who she thought he was and that was a relief, "Alright gents let's go get some water." She said and waved her hand for Howlett to lead the way.

Star followed after the four men that had been assigned to get the water with Howlett leading the way to the water, once she had seen Howlett she knew that he was the man that she would meet in the future when she was a child and would go through the Adamantium process with the man, people could be really sick bastards when they wanted something that would benefit them. Howlett seemed so different to the man she knows of in the future but that's probably because of the years in between now and when she meets him and what he goes through.

Star watched as Howlett paused in his trek, his nose twitching, something or someone was out there and Howlett had caught the scent, Star moved over to where he was standing, "What do you smell?" She questioned softly.

Howlett gave Star a side glance and a raised eyebrow, "Probably the same thing that you do." He responded roughly and Star gave him a slip of a smile, "Let's just get the water." He said continuing on and catching up with the rest of the men.

Star sighed and followed after the men, it was not going to be easy talking to the man and giving him a small warning about bullets to the brain, she wanted him to remember her, needed him to remember her so that when she returned to her time there would be someone there. Star lingered back and making sure that the scents that she and Howlett had caught didn't get any closer than she was comfortable with. It was because she was so involved with her thoughts she missed the crack of a gunshot, but not the searing pain that entered her chest and fell down to the ground gasping for air.

She blinked and saw that the five men that she had started the trek with were now surrounding her, building up the snow to help absorb any more shots coming their way, their weapons high as they looked out over the woods to where the gunshot had come from, Howlett rolled her over since the bullet hadn't come out the front of her chest so the bullet was lodged inside. Blood dribbled down Star's chin and she grabbed at Howlett's shirt to pull him down so she could talk, "It's…" She had to swallow down the blood filling her mouth, "Nicked lung, stuck." She managed.

"Can you guys see anything?" Howlett questioned but they couldn't exactly move from where they were knelt protecting the woman of the group.

"No, I can't even figure out where the shot came from." Johnson responded as he looked around.

Howlett took another look at the wound and saw that it was at a downward penetrating angle, so who ever did it was staked out in a tree, he pulled Johnson over to Star and stuck one of the lad's fingers in to the hole to stem the blood flow, "Keep it there till I get back." He said and took off into the woods to take care of whoever shot at them.

"What should I do?" Johnson asked Star, Star was only able to shake her head at him in response, "Should we try and send for Bucky or Cap?" He questioned and Star shook her head again, "So we just wait here until they pick us off one by one." Johnson muttered and Star weakly hit his leg in response.

Howlett moved around the trees in the direction of where the scent was coming from, but he came from the side so that he wouldn't be caught straight out by the sniper, not that it would do much damage to unless it was the heart or head. Howlett started up one of the trees and leapt across to the he was nose to nose with the sniper. He stopped on a tree branch just over from where he could see the sniper sitting and judging from the distance the guy got a lucky shot considering he wasn't using an actual sniper rifle, three bone claws from each hand appeared as Howlett took to a crouch and leapt with a roar at the man and as he turned the claws sunk into the chest cavity, causing the man to start choking on his own blood as he died, the soldier was just an ordinary Nazi, he wasn't HYDRA. Withdrawing his claws he lets the body drop to the ground and followed after him so that he could get back to where the others were hunkered down.

"Is there anyone out there?" Johnson questioned as Howlett approached.

"Only one, bastard got a lucky shot." He said walking over and checking on Star. "We're going to need that water." He said talking Johnson's place in plugging the bullet wound.

"Alright, we'll get that and meet you back with the others." Johnson said grabbing the water containers and taking off to where Howlett had pointed out to get the water while Howlett moved to pick Star up and get her back to the others.

"Stop." Star said as he started to move, "Remove your finger." She told him.

"If I do that you'll bleed out." Howlett responded.

"No, I'll be okay really." Looking at her in disbelief Howlett did as she asked remove his finger from the bullet wound and watched in fascination as the bullet was pushed out of the hole and plop to the ground and the wound healed, "Lot more alike than you thought huh." She let out as he dropped her legs so that she could stand.

"What would you know?" Howlett grumbled.

Star gave him a little smile, "You'd be surprised James." She said softly as she looked him in the eyes, "You head to the boys and help with the water, I'll go back to the others." She said and headed off toward the convoy.

"We'll talk later." Howlett said and stalked off to do as she had told him to do, "And don't think you can keep telling me what to do kid." He called back and Star laughed.

Star headed back to where the convoy was and upon seeing her coming back Steve and Bucky made their way over to her, "Where are the others?" Steve questioned.

"Getting the water still, there was a little problem." Star explained.

"What kind of problem?" Bucky asked.

"I kinda, sorta got shot." She said so quickly that Steve and Bucky have to take a second to decipher what she had said.

"What?" Steve said, his voice sort of squeaking as he said it causing Star to giggle a little bit at the pitch.

"I'm okay obviously, Howlett took care of the problem while Johnson was plugging the hole in my back, but I healed so I'm okay." She told the pair hoping that would calm the two down a little.

Steve sighed and brought a hand up to his nose and rubbed at the bridge of it as though he was suffering a headache, but that would never again be possible because of the serum, "Turn around." He said and waited for Star to do as asked, Star let out an exaggerated sigh and turned around, there was quite a lot of blood on her back from the wound, "We're going to need to find a jacket to cover that up." He mumbled going off to see if there were any jackets left to spare.

"What are you going to tell the people that were with you when you were shot?" Bucky questioned.

"This is exactly the reason why Erskine brought up me going into the experiment with Steve, so that if something like this happened it could be explained away because of the serum." Starlyn explained, "At least this way no one has to know I'm a mutant."

Bucky sighed and brought Star into a hug, "You and Steve have a lot of explaining to do when we get back to camp." He told her.

"Only once you've had a check-up, decent meal, shower and a good night's sleep." Star responded from where she was listening to his heart beat, "I'm so glad that you're okay Bucky."

"I'm glad that you and Steve came and got us." Bucky responded.

Star looked up at Bucky and slapped his chest causing a puff of air to come from him as it was a little harder than she meant, "Of course we'd come for you. Even if all we found was a body, we will always come for you."

Bucky gave a crooked smile, "Thanks."

"Here." Steve said as he appeared with a jacket in hand and passed it over to Star, "You got your story straight for how you're healed?" He wondered.

"Yes Cap." Star responded with an eye roll and pulled on the jacket.

Howlett, Johnson and the other three returned to the convoy with the water that was quickly distributed amongst the men that had canteens and put the rest into the back of one of the trucks as everyone injured piled back in to the trucks and the others began the walk back to the base that they would soon come upon.

"I think that I should maybe run ahead and let them know to be ready for the injured." Star spoke up after a while from where she was walking next to Bucky and Steve, "There's a few men that are still going to need surgery."

Steve nodded, "Alright, just be careful alright, I don't want to hear that you got shot again."

Star laughed, "If I'm alone, how would you know I've been shot." She said and danced off down the road ahead, "See you boys soon." She waved and took off down the road.

"Where's she going?" Falsworth called out from the top of the tank obviously asking the question for Dugan and Gabe.

"She's going to head back to base and let 'em know were coming so that the med tent can be ready for the wounded." Steve explained and watched as Falsworth passed the message back to Gabe and Dugan.

"So how much trouble are the pair of you in?" Bucky wondered.

Steve shrugged, "We'll probably be sent to the lab so they can take all our blood to figure out the Serum since Erskine was killed by a HYDRA plant." He explained.

"And you're okay with that?" Bucky asked in disbelief.

Steve gave Bucky a look, "It won't happen." He said and Bucky nodded in understanding.

* * *

Star stealthily walked into the base and headed to where she could change into regulation uniform, took her mask off and headed over to the medical tent where she started to get everything ready for the men that were coming, when questioned by the attending doctor she explained that Captain America would be back soon and the men he had freed would need to be helped. The doc scoffed and walked out of the tent calling her a buffoon as he went.

Star walked out of the tent and over to where Phillips was holed up in his tent, where he was dictating to one of his men who typed it up, "Senator Brandt, I regret to report that Captain Steven G. Rogers and Lady Liberty went missing behind enemy lines on the third. Aerial reconnaissance has proven unfruitful, as a result I must declare Captain Rogers and Lady Liberty killed in action." He sprouted off just as Peggy walked in.

"He'll be back Colonel." Star spoke up, her voice firm as Peggy walked over with some photos.

"The last surveillance flight is back." Peggy informed Phillips, "No sign of activity."

"Go and get a cup of coffee Corporal." He ordered to the man taking his dictation and the Corporal hurried off out of the tent, "Where the hell have you been?" Phillips questioned turning to Star.

Star raised an eyebrow, "I've been with Steve the whole time Colonel." She responded giving him a significant look, "The whole time." She emphasised.

Phillips scoffed, "Of course you have, you never let that boy out of you sights." He grumbled and walked away from Peggy, "I can't touch Stark, he's rich and the Army's number one weapon's contractor. You are neither one." He said turning on Peggy and Starlyn.

"With all due respect sir, I do not regret my actions." Peggy said firmly, "And I don't think that Captain Rogers or Starlyn did either."

"What makes you think I give a damn about your opinions?" Phillips snapped, "I took a chance with you Agent Carter. And now America's golden boy and a lot of other good men are dead 'cause you have a crush."

Star had heard enough so she pushed herself in between the two, "That is enough Phillips, Steve is on his way now with about two hundred men from the factory, it is for damn sure that if Steve and I didn't go then all of those men would have been dead and that would have been on you, not me, not Steve and not Agent Carter." She snapped, a fire in her eyes.

Phillips was about to respond to Star when the three noticed men running past the tent, heading for the bases' entrance, "What the hell is going on out there?" He wondered and walked around Star and Peggy and out of the tent to follow the soldiers.

Star linked arms with Peggy and gave her a smile, "Looks like Stevie's back." She said pulling the other woman out with her and they stopped to see the ex-prisoners, being led by Steve, arrive at the boom gate of the camp the convoy piled into the camp, the camp soldiers cheering as their friends walked passed them, alive.

Steve finally came to a stop in front of Colonel Phillips, Peggy and Star's headed appearing over his shoulder, Steve saluted, "Some of these men need medical attention, Star should have already gotten something ready." He stated to Phillips, a few people called out for medics to come over to help out the men that needed it, "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

Phillips looked like he swallowed a lemon, "That won't be necessary." He said and walked off after giving Star and Peggy a look.

Peggy walked over to Steve giving him a small smile while Star went and stood next to Bucky, "You're late." Peggy declared.

Steve pulled the transponder from his pocket and showed it to her, it had been damaged by a bullet "Couldn't call my ride."

"Hey!" Bucky called out, "Let's hear it for Captain America and Lady Liberty!" He called out and the crowd around them started cheering while Star slapped Bucky in the stomach and Steve only had eyes for the woman standing in front of him.


	16. Getting the Team Together & Mama Bear

I guess I'm going through a lot of chapters LOL, but I just hope that everyone enjoys what I am doing with my story and I just hope that once I get to the Avengers part of the movie that you will enjoy what I have written.

Also I am taking a few liberties with how people meet and how soon they meet and the like once Steve and Star wake up from the Ice and yes, after the Avengers I am going to do something with Wolverine and Star.

Please read and review guys, I really do like knowing what you guys think of my story.

* * *

Starlyn stood behind the curtain waiting to collect Steve's medal of valour, in her dress uniform, he was too busy back at the base to collect the medal so Star was doing it for him, though she would prefer to be with Steve planning out what they were going to do to HYDRA, there was no way she was going to let the shit they did to Bucky fly, she wanted in on the action.

"I am honoured to present this medal for valour to my personal friend, Captain America." Senator Brandt stated and that was Star's queue to head out and collect said medal. Star walked out much to the confusion of Senator Brandt and walked over to the podium and nodded to Senator Brandt and accepted the medal and as he stepped back moved over to the podium.

"On behalf of Captain America, I would like to express his thanks and acceptance of this medal. Cap did what any other person would do. I am sorry that he isn't here to accept this himself but there is some serious work that needs to be done that will hopefully help end this war. Thank you again." Starlyn said with a smile of thanks and went back behind the curtain where she was accosted by Brandt.

"Where the hell is he?" Brandt snapped.

"Like I said, he is helping to plan an attack with some information he and Lady Liberty had gotten from the factory when they went to save all of those men." Starlyn responded, "Now if you'll excuse me, I really do need to get back." She said and walked off into London proper and headed to the SSR base.

As she walked, she admired the architecture, it didn't seem as old in the 40's as it did when she was in London in '08, but either way she loved to old buildings and admired the way they had rebuilt after the London bombings, it was almost as though the bombings never happened with how they had rebuilt. Maybe she could get Steve and Bucky to go out to the pub with her later on when they had some time, if they had time that was.

Passing the 'check-in' station with the proper password and identification Star walked through the underground halls of the base and to the room where Steve was with Peggy marking up a map of all of the HYDRA bases that he could remember from the map in the room that Bucky had been kept in.

"The fifth one was here in Poland, right near the Baltic. And the sixth one was…" Steve took a second to go over the map, "About here, 30 to 40 miles west of the Maginot Line." He told Peggy as the man standing near them gathered up the map to take it where it was needed, "I just got a quick look." He said sheepishly.

Peggy rolled her eyes discreetly and stood, "Well, nobody's perfect." She said and Star stifled a giggle at the words as the pair of them went over to the much larger map where Star joined them.

"These are the factories that we know of." Steve said as he walked over with Phillips, "Sergeant Barnes said that HYDRA shipped all the parts to another facility that isn't on this map."

"Agent Carter, coordinate with MI6." Phillips ordered as he walked off, "I want every Allied eyeball looking for that main HYDRA base."

"What about us?" Starlyn questioned.

"We are going to set a fire under Johann Schmidt's ass. What do you say Rogers? It's your map. You think that you can wipe HYRDA off of it?" Phillips asked as he looked over some papers a pretty little blonde had handed him.

"Yes sir, I'll need a team." Steve told him.

"We're already putting together a team of the best men." Phillips said.

"With all due respect sir, so am I." Steve said firmly and shared a look with Star, letting her know that she was one of the people that he wanted, not that she would let him go without her anyway.

"Well let's go and get our team together." Star said grabbing Steve's hand and heading out of the base.

Steve and Starlyn headed down to where the boys were on leave having a few pints after their experience, something that they definitely deserved after everything they went through, she wanted to take Bucky out for a dance when he felt up to it so that they could have a little bit of normalcy in this war.

Starlyn and Steve walked into the pub where they had taken up residence drinking and just watched them for a little while as they talked and joked, Bucky was with them laughing, so the pair just paused watching Bucky laugh, it was good to see him laughing after his capture and it made them both feel better.

"Are we really going to ask them to do this?" Starlyn asked.

"I think those guys, more than anyone deserves to go after HYDRA." Steve responded and walked over to the group and joined them while Star went over to the bar and got them something to drink before joining the guys, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Howlett sitting in a corner drinking. She had to speak to him after she and Steve had spoken to the guys.

"Roger's and Roger's." Dugan greeted, saluting them with his beer.

"Timothy." Star said as she sat down next to Bucky and gave him a smile.

"We have something to ask all of you." Steve spoke up as he was handed his beer and launched into what it was he wanted from the men sitting around the table while Bucky went over to the bar half way through to get himself another beer and plonked himself down at the bar with his drink, he's be there with his best friend and Starlyn no matter what.

Starlyn walked over to the bar and stood in front of Bucky and ran a hand over his cheek and brushed his hair back from his eyes, "Are you alright?" She questioned, having to move closer because of another patron walking over to the bar for a drink.

Bucky gave Star a tired smile, "I'm okay Star, just a little tired is all."

"Nightmares?" Star wondered, "And don't tell me no, I'm no stranger when it comes to that sort of thing, remember where I'm from Bucky, I knew military before you did, knew war before you did." She said softly as she cupped his face in her hands, "Do not let it fester Bucky, you need to talk about it or it will begin to eat you alive."

Bucky sighed and rested his head against her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her to him as though she was his last life line and was all that was tethering him to the earth, "Maybe later, for now, let's just have some fun okay."

Star smile and gave him a kiss on the crown since that is what she could reach, "Of course, we need to find somewhere to go dancing while were here, but right now, I have to have a talk with Howlett." She explained to him as she carded a hand through his hair.

"Why?" Bucky asked in confusion lifting his head to look at her.

"He's like me." She whispered, "I knew him when I was a child. I know that I shouldn't say anything, but I really need to give him some sort of warning."

Bucky rubbed her back and gave her a push, "Alright doll, you do that and I'll ask the bar tender if there's somewhere to dance around here."

Star gave him a smile and went over to where Howlett was sitting, "May I sit down?" She asked and Howlett just pointed at the spare chair, it seemed his aura had warded everyone else off from sitting too near him.

"What do you want kid?" He questioned as he swirled the amber liquid in the glass.

"I know who you are James, I know who you'll become." She told him, her voice not raising above a whisper, knowing that he would hear her, "I know that you were born in 1832, you came into your mutation at 13 when the family grounds keeper killed your father, who wasn't your father, I know that the grounds keeper was your father and you have a half-brother called Victor Creed. Your mutation is regeneration along with three bone claws that come from the backs of each hand." She sprouted off and as she kept talking the look of Howlett's face got darker and darker.

"How do you know all that, who told you?" He growled.

Starlyn sighed, "That's probably a little harder to explain, or rather to believe. My name is Starlyn Rogers in this period of time, but in the time I come from my name is Starlyn Wolfe and I was born in 1984. In the year 2012 there was some kind of battle in New York where I was heading for the base in Brooklyn when I was hit with some sort of light, much like the blue light that comes from Hydra weapons, and appeared in a back alley in Brooklyn where Steve and Bucky find me." She rattled off and could see that the man in front of her didn't really believe her, "It's okay, I wouldn't believe me either but it's the truth and I know you from when I was about 6, it was our first meeting. Look, all I want to do it tell you to be very, very, very careful of any gun shots that are aimed for your head alright, that's all I wanted to do, so please be careful." She mumbled and then left the table and left Howlett with his thoughts on everything that she had just told him.

"So any luck on finding somewhere to dance?" Star questioned as she came back over to Bucky and looked to see that Steve was still talking to the guys.

"Yeah, there's a place just down the road we can go to." Bucky responded.

"So let's get this straight." Dugan said after taking a gulp.

"We barely got out of there alive, and you want us to go back?" Gabe said in a nutshell.

Steve nodded, "Yeah, pretty much." He shrugged.

"Sounds rather fun, actually." Falsworth agreed playing with a cufflink.

Morita burped, "I'm in." He agreed.

Frenchie spoke rapidly and enthusiastically in French, "Moi, je combattrai jusqu'à ce que le dernier de ces bâtards soient morts, enchaînés ou bien pleurent comme un petit bébé." (I will fight until the last of those bastards are dead, chained or cry like a little baby.) To which Steve just smiled in confusion, he had no idea what the man had said.

"J'espère que ce sera tous les trois." (I hope that it will be all three.) Gabe responded to Frenchie.

"Moi aussi." (Me too.) Frenchie agreed and the two men excitedly shook hands.

At seeing the confused looks coming from those around the table Gabe translated pointing to himself and Frenchie, "We're in." With that Steve looked over to Dugan.

"Hell, I'll always fight." Dugan said picking up his beer, "But there's one thing that you have to do for me."

"What's that?"

Dugan guzzled down his drink and slammed it on the table, "Open a tab." Steve laughed and collected up the glasses and went to the bar for another round, "Well that was easy." Dugan commented with a laugh.

"Another round." Steve said to the bar keep as he put the glasses down.

The bar keep just stared at the glasses, "Where are they putting all this stuff?" He questioned.

Steve shrugged, "No clue." He said and headed for where Bucky and Star had been sitting waiting to hear the verdict.

"See? I told you." Bucky said as Steve sat down, "They're all idiots." He said taking a drink.

"Well you're not any better Bucky, you brought all of the stupid with you remember." Star spoke up from where she was getting another drink.

"How about you?" Steve asked his best friend and brother, "You ready to follow Captain America and Lady Liberty into the jaws of death?"

"Hell no." Bucky responded, "That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I'm following him." He explained and the two of them were silent for a moment and Star was in an 'awe so cute' like state at Bucky's words to his best friend, "But you're keeping the outfit right?"

Steve and Star just gave him a look before turning to the poster that was on the wall behind them that stated that the tour had been cancelled, "You know what? It's kinda growing on me." Steve admitted.

Starlyn snorted, "I bloody burnt mine, and there is no way in hell I'm going to keep fighting in that outfit." She told the pair.

"Oh come on Star, you're Lady Liberty, ya gotta have something." Bucky teased, "And I gotta say, that little skirt would have the enemy taking pause as they had a lookie loo at your legs."

"Like hell I do, I have a mask and that's enough for me." She said and looked around in confusion and the singing and music stopped and then saw Peggy enter the part of the bar that they were in, Steve was on his feet in a blink.

"Captain." Peggy greeted Steve, she was dress in a slinky red dress that made her look like a bomb shell.

"Agent Carter." Steve responded as she walked over to the trio, Bucky looked her up and down, his usual boyish charm coming to the forefront and Starlyn rolled her eyes.

"Ma'am." Bucky greeted and Peggy gave him a nod.

"Howard has some equipment for you and Star to try." She said now standing in front of Steve, "Tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds good." Steve responded.

"You got it Peggy." Star spoke up as she ordered another drink and Peggy looked into the next room to where the others were still drinking and singing. Steve and Bucky shared a look and Bucky raised an eyebrow at the younger man who just furrowed his brow in confusion and Bucky rolled his eyes as he looked back at Peggy.

"I see that your top squad is preparing for duty." Peggy stated.

"You don't like music?" Bucky questioned.

"I do, actually." Peggy responded but her eyes were back on Steve and weren't moving from him, "I might even, when this is all over, go dancing."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bucky questioned, he really wanted to see if she would be interested in him at all, but the more she kept her gaze on Steve the better he felt, finally a dame that saw Steve for Steve.

"The right partner." Peggy said simply, "0800 Captain." She said and walked off leaving both men to watch her leave.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be there." Steve called after her.

Bucky had a frown on his face as he turned back to Steve, "I'm invisible. I'm… I'm turning into you. It's like a horrible dream."

Starlyn scoffed and kicked Bucky in the back of the leg as Steve turned back to the bar and pat his friend on the shoulder, "Don't take it so hard. Maybe she's got a friend." Steve comforted him.

Star cuffed Steve over the head, "The only friend here that Peggy has is me Steve. She doesn't talk to the other women." She explained ordering yet another drink.

"You sure you want another one love?" The bar keep questioned.

"Yes please, don't worry about me good sir, should I get too legless these two fine gentlemen will take care of me." Star responded with a smile and was handed another drink, "Thank God I can't get drunk." She muttered once she got her drink and turned back to the boys, "Is there going to be food involved at any time during this night out?" She questioned and looked at Bucky, "You definitely need to eat some more."

Bucky looked affronted, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you are far too skinny from your capture and you need to be fattened up and get your ass fit before we even think about going after HYDRA." She explained factually, "And not just you, the others need it too." She said and walked off to where the guys were drinking, "Come on you lot, we're going to get some food to fatten the lot of you up and then tomorrow we train." She told them and when they started to protest she said two words, 'prostate exam' and that got the group moving quickly with Star, Steve and Bucky following.

"Well where are we going to go then?" Dugan questioned.

Star took the lead, she knew there was a nice restaurant down the road a little from her trip in the future, the restaurant had been opened even before the current war so she knew that it would be there and it was a nice little restaurant with good food and beer for the guys to drink. Coming up to the restaurant she opened the door and let the men through first and they were greeted happily by the owners quickly seated.

"Get what you want boys, I'll pay." Star told them as she picked up the menu and looked it over.

"I dunno why we need to eat." Dugan grumbled, he wasn't too happy about being taken away from his drinking.

Star gave each man barr Steve a dark look, "I am your medic and I will not let you go out to hunt HYDRA unless I think that you're up to it and so that means that you best eat 3 meals a day and exercise until we leave. I won't have any of you falling down dead because you're too fucking stubborn to do as you're told." She growled and it was a real feral growl that no person should be able to do.

Steve put a hand on her back and rubbed at it soothingly, "Calm down Star." He murmured. Star's eyes cut to Steve's and they were pitch black, Steve gulped at the look, he had never seen that look in her eyes before and he had a feeling that it had something to do with what had happened to Bucky and she hadn't gotten it out yet and it had all bottled. He pulled her up out of the chair and quickly left the restaurant, waving at Bucky, who had risen from his seat to follow, to stay and he would take care of it. "Alright what's wrong?" Steve questioned once they were at the mouth of an alley.

Starlyn didn't know where to start she was so wired, she had been like that on and off all day and she had hoped that the drinks would help calm her down even though the alcohol wouldn't affect her anyway, but the process of doing it would hopefully help calm her down. "I'm fine."

Steve shook his head, "No you're not Star, your eyes are pitch black and I have never seen them like that before and I've got to say that it isn't something I want to ever see again." He explained and that seemed to snap her out of whatever it was that had caused it to happen in the first place.

Starlyn took a deep breath, "Sorry, it's a by-product of the type of mutant I am and maybe the serum is starting to manifest with my mutant gene." She admitted, "It's called Feral, sometimes the mind reverts to an animalistic state and other attributes come out as well, such as the canines and fingernails lengthen that sort of thing. I guess because I see you and Bucky as family, what was done to him in the factory is what set things off but I didn't deal with them, and now with them refusing to eat I guess I finally snapped." She explained.

Steve tried not to laugh, "So the mama bear complex kicked in." He said letting the smile go.

Starlyn groaned and hit him, "Something like that." She mumbled.

Steve brought her into a hug and gave her a squeeze, "Feel better now?"

Star nodded against his chest, "Yeah, let's go back inside." She said and the pair headed back in to see the others eating and a meal in the spots where they were sitting, the pair looked at the food in confusion and then over to Bucky.

Bucky shrugged, "I ordered for you." He said in explanation, "You alright now?"

Star nodded as she picked up her knife and fork, "We'll talk about it later." She told him with a smile and dug into her meal. Before they had left the restaurant Steve and Star had consumed about 4 more plates of food much to the amazement of those around them.


	17. Do A Little Dance and Oh Steve

Only a few more chapters to go before book one is finished and i move on to the Avengers

Please read and review

* * *

Starlyn hummed as she followed the guys back down to the pub where they wanted to continue their drinking, honestly, they could probably drink more than they could eat. The sound of music caused Star to stop walking and look at the building that the sounds was coming from, the guys getting further away since they didn't know that she had stopped.

With a moment of pause Star turned to the building and went in, the music was obviously much louder and there were servicemen a plenty dancing around with one woman or another and looking like they were having some fun, these men were taking advantage of fun while they could, before they headed back out into the field to fight the war.

With a smile Star walked over to the bar and ordered a drink, this must have been the dance hall the bar keep told Bucky about, once she got her drink and sat on a stool and just watched the room as everyone danced and had fun.

"First Lieutenant?" A voice called from next to Star and she turned to see Johnson standing there looking at her curiously.

"Hello Johnson, are you having fun?" She questioned.

Johnson smiled and took a seat next to her, ordering a drink, "I am ma'am, it sure is nice to be free."

Starlyn laughed, "Well you can do what you want, within reason of course, eat what you want without someone hovering behind you ready to beat you down."

"That's about right." Johnson agreed, he sighed, "It's like this beer, it's something that we could have, and now it feels like I should look at it differently, drink it differently ya know. The little things that I took for granted I will never take for granted again." He tried to explain.

Starlyn gave him a comforting smile, "I know what you're trying to say Johnson and I just want you to remember that feeling as you go through the rest of this war. But I also want you to be careful while you're out there okay?"

Johnson nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"Good, now how about you take me out for a spin on the dance floor and we'll have some fun, be free of the war for a little while." Star said holding her hand out for Johnson to take, "By the way, what's your first name?"

"Kip ma'am." Kip responded as he took Star's hand and they went out onto the dance floor and had some fun.

* * *

Bucky pulled the door to the pub open so the guys could pile in and as they did so he noticed that Starlyn was no longer with them, "Hey, where'd Star go?" He questioned the guys, they all paused and looked around them in confusion.

"She was there a second ago." Gabe muttered.

Steve shrugged, "She probably went dancing, we passed a place where there was music so she probably went in there instead of coming back here to watch you all drink your weight in beer." He explained, he really wasn't worried, Star could take care of herself.

"I did say that I would take her dancing." Bucky muttered and let go of the door, letting it fall closed and started off down the path to the place the bar keep had told him about, the others looking after him in confusion.

"Boy's got it bad." Dugan muttered.

"Huh?" Steve said looking at the man, "What you talking about?"

Dugan looked at Steve and shook his head, "Your boy there is head over heels for that girl and I don't think he's even realised it yet." He explained.

Steve looked where Bucky had gone with a thoughtful look on his face, and though back to the time that she had unknowingly kissed Bucky on the lips back when he had gotten his orders and they were going to the Stark Expo, "I don't even think Star has realised it." He said, "Back before they both got shipped out, Star had to leave us early to go to the Stark Expo and she gave us a hug and a kiss, but when she kissed Bucky it was on the lips, something unusual for her to do, she'd only ever kissed us on the cheeks or forehead." He explained to the group, "We just brushed it off thinking it was just 'cause she was flustered about Bucky leaving."

"So that was the first time huh?" Gabe questioned.

"You're implying there's a second aren't you?" Steve asked.

"Cause there was, just after he got shot and she came over to tell him she had been shipped out she did it again before she rushed off." Gabe explained.

Steve just sighed shaking his head, a smile on his lips, "This is going to be interesting." He said and went over to open the door but paused, "So are we going to go into the pub and drink or are we going to follow Bucky and watch the two of them stumble?" He had barely finished speaking when the guys started to head in the direction that Bucky had gone, Steve followed after them with a smile.

* * *

Star let out a sigh as she was finally able to sit down, she had danced with most of the guys that she and Steve had saved from the factory, they wanted to say thank you in some way and having a dance with her was the best way that they could do it when she had Steve as her brother, they didn't want to get on his bad side. That had caused Star to laugh a little, it wasn't Steve that they needed to worry about.

"Hey doll." Came a well-known voice to Star and she turned to see Bucky standing casually against the bar where she was siting.

"Fancy seeing you here soldier." Star responded giving him a smile.

"Guess you found the dance hall." Bucky commented as he looked around, seeing that everyone was having a good time.

"Yeah, I've already had two full dance cards." Star responded as she took a sip of her drink, "A good few of the guys in here are those that Steve and I helped free and they wanted to say thank you with a dance."

"Did they behave themselves?" He questioned.

Star laughed, "They're all a little bit afraid of Steve so they were on their best behaviour." She told him and watched as Bucky laughed too.

"Right, they need to fear Steve." He scoffed, his best friend was a puppy, he would have just politely warned any man off and wouldn't have turned anything physical.

Star nodded, "I know right, Steve would have just given them that disappointed look he does on you and that would have been it."

The pair sat in silence for a moment, just taking in the atmosphere of the dance hall chatting between themselves and others as they came over to chat to Bucky and see how the other man was and updating him on something's that had been going on since they had been saved.

Steve, Dugan, Gabe, Morita, Frenchie and Falsworth sat at the back of the club watching the pair while having their drinks, muttering between themselves every now and then about Star and Bucky and why they weren't on the dance floor.

"Finally." Steve breathed and they all looked over to see Bucky leading Star over to the dance floor and the boys sat there impressed with the moved that Bucky was pulling as the pair laughed as they went around the dance floor.

"Your boy's pretty good." Falsworth commented.

"Bucky's won a couple of dance competitions back home, a few of them were when he was dancing with Star because the date he was with didn't know the dance." Steve explained, "Buck's a man of many talents."

"I have to ask though mate." Falsworth spoke up, "Just how did that chunk of your sister's shoulder heal as though it never happened."

Steve ran a hand through his hair as he looked over at Star and Bucky, a thoughtful look on his face, these men were going to be with them for the forcible future and they would see things that would be harder to explain than saying it was the Serum. They were going to have to explain that to the men as well, it was only right they knew, "We'll have to have that talk tomorrow because it's going to be a long explanation." He told them, "And it probably won't be easy for any of you to understand."

"Understand what Stevie boy." Star said as she appeared out of nowhere and jumped on her brothers back, Bucky standing just behind her.

"What we have to tell them about the Serum." He responded, he had hardly moved from the jump, whereas before when she did it he would pretty much crumble from her weight.

"When is that going to happen?" She questioned as Bucky pulled up a couple of chairs so that they could join the guys at the table.

"I figured tomorrow after we've seen what Howard has for us." Steve explained.

Star nodded, "Okay, I've got an apartment here that I'm using while were in London, we can have the talk there around 12, I can make lunch." She told the guys and got nods of agreement from the men, "Alright then." She said standing again pulling Steve up with her, "And now you're going to take your sister for a dance." She told him, pulling the reluctant Steve with her much to the amusement of Bucky.

"He really doesn't like to dance much." He informed the guys.

"I bet if it was that woman Agent he wouldn't have a problem." Morita spoke up, he had seen the looks the two shared in the pub earlier and the guys laughed, "'Cause she shot you down flat Barnes."

Bucky laughed, "It's okay, I just wanted to see how into Steve she was and if it was just because he's the way he is now." He told them and saw the confused looks on their face and with a sigh went into his pocket and produced a picture, the only picture he was able to hold onto because he hid it in his sock, "This is what Steve used to look like." He said handing over the photo to be passed around.

The photo was taken before he had gotten drafted and they were at Coney Island, the three of them crammed in the photo with Steve in the middle because he was the smallest and Starlyn had a large stuffed bear that Bucky had won that was nearly as big as Steve in the photo was. He saw the looks of disbelief as they looked at the photo and then over at the dancing Steve and back to the photo before the photo was finally handed back to Bucky.

"I can't…" Gabe floundered for something to say but couldn't find the words.

Bucky gave them a small smile, "How bad do you think it is for me, all I'll ever see is just a scrawny kid that I met back in Brooklyn when we were about 6 or so and was getting beat up by the school bully but the kid just wouldn't stay down." He reminisced, "He was really sick as a kid, asthma, chronic colds, scarlet fever, heart trouble and the list goes on, by all rights Steve should have been dead years ago." He shared and saw the looks of disbelief on the guy's faces and he laughed a little, "Yeah I know. I suppose everything will be explained tomorrow."

"Did you find anything out when he rescued you?" Falsworth asked.

"Not much, we were kinda distracted in getting outta the exploding building." Bucky responded with a shrug.

Frenchie spoke up and Gabe translated for him, "I still can't fathom the picture that you showed me with what's in front of me now."

Bucky laughed, "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either when I saw him in that room, I thought it was the drugs that they had me on that created some sort of fictional image of my best friend coming to save me. It wasn't until he freed me and got me up that I realised that he was actually there and much taller."

"It was just as much in a change in perspective for me as it was for you." Steve spoke up as he and Star joined them again, "'Cause suddenly I was looking down instead of looking up."

"I personally like it." Star piped up, "I won't have to be as careful as I used to be around Steve, he was so fragile I felt like if I breathed sometimes he would snap in half or blow away." She said and Bucky busted out laughing and Steve blushed.

"I wasn't that bad." He grumbled.

"From the look of the picture that Bucky showed us, you were that bad lad." Falsworth spoke up after ordering another round from the waitress for the table.

Steve looked at him in confusion, "What picture?"

Bucky handed over the picture that was still in his hand, "It really is pretty bad when a stuffed toy is bigger than a full grown man." He teased as Steve took the picture and had a look and huffed out a laugh and passed it back to Bucky.

"That was a good day." Star said, the look in her eyes going distant as she remembered that day.

"It was a good day." Steve agreed, "The vomiting not so much."

"Vomiting?" Dugan questioned.

"These two made me go on nearly every ride that span. I think that it was payback for signing Star up for the Miss Coney Island competition." Steve told them with a smile.

"Well you try being a woman and having some guy paw at you for your chest and waist measurements while in a bathing suit." Star grumbled with a frown, glaring at the pair, "You got to go on all of the vomit inducing rides and Bucky had to buy me food, pay for my rides and win me a teddy bear." She harrumphed.

Bucky winced at the reminder, "That was a whole pay check." He bemoaned.

"What game did he win the bear on?" Dugan wondered.

Star, Steve and Bucky all shared a smile, "Well he got it his first try." Star said.

"Got all the ducks down in about 10 seconds." Steve continued, "Including the bonus pop up duck."

"I guess I'm just a really good shot." Bucky finished off and that's what gave them the rest of the clue to the game he won the teddy on.

"Is that how you got so good?" Morita questioned.

"Nah, it was the first time I ever played the game." Bucky responded much to the shock of the others.

"Then how?"

Bucky shrugged, "I guess it's just natural."

"We'll have to see what Howard has for you guys concerning whether or not he's made some specialised weapons." Star said and let out a yawn, "Now I don't know about you guys but I'm beat and we've got a busy day tomorrow." She reminded them and they all stood from their table and headed out of the dance hall and split ways.

* * *

Starlyn hurried around her apartment, she was running late for her meeting with Howard she grabbed her mask and she was running out the door by 0750 and ran down the road, dodging people left and right as she raced to the base and scooted through the door, throwing her mask on, dead on 0800 not the least bit out of breath and quickly threw out the password and her I.D and was let down to the underground.

"Excuse me." Steve spoke up as he came up to the secretary, "I'm looking for Mister Stark."

The secretary was reading the paper and didn't even look up at Steve, "He's in with Colonel Phillips." She responded and finally looked up only to look back at her paper but went for another look when she realised who was standing there, "Of course, you're welcome to wait."

Starlyn skidded to a stop behind Steve and pinched his bum causing him to jump and turn around to see a laughing Star and he just slapped her in the arm, "That's wasn't nice." Was all he said.

"Oh come on Stevie, it was funny."

Steve shook his head, "I'm glad that you can find some amusement about it but I don't." He grumbled.

"Awe what's wrong Stevie, little old ladies giving you a pinch as you walk by?" She teased but when a blush stole over his cheeks she busted out laughing at the thought of little old ladies pinching Steve's bum as he walked by them in the street.

"You know, I read about what you did." The secretary spoke up as she put her paper down and was sitting provocatively though Steve didn't really notice that but Starlyn did and she wasn't liking where it could go.

"Oh, the… yeah." Steve really didn't know what to say, he was humble that way, "Well, that's, you know. We were just doing what needed to be done." He responded. Starlyn stood there chewing on her thumbnail as she watched the exchange, she didn't have a good feeling about what was about to go down here.

"Sounded like more than that. You saved more than 400 men." She continued.

"Really, it's not that big of a deal and I didn't do it on my own, I had Lady Liberty to help get those men out and the men themselves also did what had to be done to come home." He said modestly, that was Starlyn's Steve.

The secretary stood up and sauntered over to Steve, "Tell that to their wives."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, he was a little uncomfortable, "I don't think that they were all married." He responded after some thought. Starlyn was about to interrupt what was going on in front of her when she was pulled aside by one of the scientists to go over some of Erskine's numbers on the Serum that they were still trying to reproduce. Starlyn was so distracted that she didn't see the blonde pull Steve in for a kiss but Peggy sure did.

"Captain!" Peggy snapped as the blonde was about to put her arms around Steve's neck, Steve's hands were hovering at the woman's waist not really knowing what to do from such a sudden attack of lips, Steve quickly wiped his mouth, "We're ready for you, if you're not otherwise occupied." She said and stalked off with Steve running to catch up and Starlyn to look on confused as she too hurried after Peggy and Steve.

"Agent Carter, wait." Steve called.

"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all." Peggy stated, remembering back to the time where Steve said he was waiting for the right partner.

"Peggy, that's not what you thought it was." Steve tried to tell her.

"I don't think anything, Captain, not one thing. You always wanted to be a soldier, and now you are, just like all the rest."

"Well what about you and Stark?" Steve questioned and Starlyn just watched as the pair of them kept digging the hole around them deeper, "How do I know you two haven't been fondue-ing?" Star slapped herself in the forehead, she knew that there was something she had forgot to talk to Steve about.

Peggy stopped, turning to Steve and just looked at Steve as he finished straightening his uniform before turning again, "You still don't know a bloody thing about women." She said walking off leaving the both of them to follow her to the restricted section where Howard was waiting.

Howard approached the couple, both confused about what had happened in the last five minutes and with a quick explanation both Howard and Starlyn were caught up and Star wacked Steve in the chest at his stupidity.

"Fondue is just cheese and bread my friend." Howard explained as they entered the area with all the gadgets and toys.

"Really? I didn't think…"

"I'm the one that forgot to tell you what Fondue was Steve, I was going to tell you but we were kinda invading a HYDRA factory." Star spoke up from behind the pair.

"Nor, should you pal. The moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked." Howard explained as they walked around the cluttered benches.

"Well it's easy to know what men think about, and it's not much." Star piped up, "We were created as a mystery to always befuddle the male species."

"Just remember you said that and not me." Howard said to Star, "As for how I deal with women, well I concentrate on work, which at the moment is about making sure that the pair of you and your men don't get killed." He explained as he walked over to a bench with some material, "Carbon polymer. Should withstand you average German bayonet. Although HYDRA isn't going to attack you with a pocket knife." He said and moved on with Steve and Star following to the next station, "I hear you're kind of attached." He said tapping the shield.

"It's handier than you might think." Steve defended the shield.

"I took the liberty of coming up with some options." Howard said and there was a whole table filled with different kinds of shields, "This one's kind of fun." He said pointing out one shield, "She's been fitted with electrical relays that allow you to…" But Steve wasn't paying attention to the shields on the table but one that was tucked underneath and Star clapped in delight.

"That's it Stevie."

Steve looked at Star and then back to the shield, "What about this one?" He asked Howard as he looked it over.

"No, no, that's just a prototype." Howard explained.

"What's it made of?" Steve wondered because it was so light in his hands.

"Vibranium." Starlyn spoke up, "It comes from a place in Africa called Wakanda, it's about the only place in the world that you can get it." She explained

Howard rolled his eyes at not being about to talk, "It's stronger than steel and a third the weight. It's completely vibration absorbent." He explained as Steve pulled the shield on his forearm and had a look at it.

"How come it's not standard issue?" Steve asked, this was exactly what their people needed.

"That right there is the rarest metal on Earth. What you're holding there is all we've got." Howard told him.

"Are you quite finished, Mister Stark?" Peggy asked stalking into the area that they were in, "I'm sure that the Captain has some unfinished business."

Starlyn winced at the words, it's not Steve's fault he was a bit of a dunce when it came to women and Peggy was sure taking it harder than Star thought she would if she didn't really feel anything for Steve, but it seems Star was wrong, Peggy really liked Steve.

"What do you think?" Steve asked Peggy holding up the shield.

Peggy assessed the shield for a moment before picking up a side arm and popping off a couple of rounds at the shield causing Steve to duck behind it lest he get a bullet to the head, "Yes." Peggy said with a smile, "I think it'll work." She put the gun down and walked off.

Star just stared in stunned amazement, there were no words that she could say to defuse the situation between Steve and Peggy, all she could try and do was talk to the other woman about what had happened because she obviously didn't have all the facts, "What you got for me?" Star finally asked Howard once Steve had handed over his ideas for the uniforms and Star had already approved the design of her uniform.

"Right, come over here." Howard said and led her over to another part of the lab where he had worked on Star's toys. "I didn't really know what to do for you, whether you were long range or short range so I did a few of both." He explained as he uncovered the weapons.

Sitting on the table were a few weapons, each of them unfortunately were in the shape of the Liberty torch in one way or another and this drew a sigh out of Star, it was something that she was going to have to get used to since it came along with the name she had been given, "What have you got?" She asked and Howard sprouted off about each of the weapons on the table and what they could do. There was only a few things that really caught her eye but they were in three different weapons, "Is there any way to combine these three?" She asked.

Howard looked thoughtfully at the weapons, running a hand over his chin and he thought about the process to put the three together, "Are you sure you want these three together, they'll be pretty destructive when used." He explained a few more minor things about the intricacies of each weapon.

"If you can do it, then I want it." She stated firmly, "Those sons a bitches won't know what hit 'em."

Howard nodded, "Alright, I can do it. It'll be about a day if not two to get it done." He told her gathering up the three weapons.

"I have something that you might be able to use in the metal, I'm sure you'll figure out how to apply it once I've told you about it, but there isn't much of it." She explained, "Come by my apartment at about 12 for lunch and I'll give it to you then."

Howard looked at her in confusion, "And where would I be applying this metal?"

"On the razors, I want them to pretty much cut through anything."

"You have a metal like that?" Howard asked in shock, he didn't think there was such a metal other than Vibranium, "What is the metal? Is it Vibranium?"

"No, it isn't Vibranium, it's a metal subtracted from a meteorite and is the purest form of the metal. There is a chemically made version that is just as good but the original from the meteor is better." She explained, "So lunch, my apartment." She said and handed him a piece of paper with her address on it and walked over to where Steve was waiting and the pair left the base. But not before Star passed a piece of paper to one of the men inside to pass on to Peggy A.S.A.P.


	18. Lunch and Explainations

"What are you going to do now?" Steve questioned as they left the building.

Starlyn looked down at her watch and saw that it was already 10 o'clock, "I'm going to head home and start cooking, you're welcome to join me if you like."

"That'd be good, it'd be just like when we were home." Steve said softly and they started off down the road towards Star's apartment.

Starlyn and Steve worked in silence, the only sound to be heard was coming from the radio that was playing in the lounge room, they quickly prepared the meal that they were having for lunch, Star wanted to made it something that the boys haven't had in a long time and she was able to get some nice big steaks from the butcher on their way home thanks to Steve's presence.

"So are you going to tell Howard as well?" Steve finally questioned.

"Yeah, he probably should have known since the infusion of the serum. He's a good man Stevie and I'm going to give him the things that came with me from the future, he'll make sure they don't see the light of day until I come back for them." She explained, "I also left a note for Peggy asking her to come by as well, she knows a little bit but she really should know the full story."

Steve continued cutting the vegetables with a thoughtful look on his face, he agreed with Star, these people were going to be the most important people in their lives for however long and they deserved to know, "Okay, but you'll have to explain about the Serum, I have no idea how to even start explaining it."

Starlyn laughed, "No problem Steve, now let's get these veggies on, the others will be here soon." She said grabbing the veggies that they had cut and threw them in the oven to cook with the meat and went over to pull out the table and set it up for lunch.

30 minutes later there was a boisterous knock at the door and loud talking as well, it seemed that everyone had shown up at the same time, Star got up from where she was sitting on the couch with Steve, looking at a photo album, reminiscing about their time in Brooklyn before the announcement of America joining the war effort, and opened the door to have 7 men and a woman amble through the door.

"Something smells good." Dugan exclaimed as he took a sniff of the air, "What we havin' Star?" He questioned.

"Something that I think that you boys deserve, a nice juicy steak each." Star responded with a smile and laughed at the happy moans at the thought of a home cooked meal, it being steak especially.

"Have you marinated it?" Bucky asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Yes Bucky, it's marinated." Star laughed.

"Yes!" Bucky cried out grabbing Star and spinning in a circle in joy.

"I didn't realise that marinated meat was so good." Morita spoke up.

"Wait until you've had Starlyn's, it's the best Buck and I've ever tasted." Steve told him as he came over to greet every one, "Come take a seat, it's still a little while before lunch is ready and we can at least get started on some of the explanations."

Everyone took a seat around the small lounge room, pulling chairs from the kitchen table since there was only a small couch and a recliner, Star had taken up residence on Steve's lap with her feet on Bucky's. It was a position that was obviously familiar for the three.

"I don't really know where to start." Starlyn admitted after they had sat there for a few minutes.

"Maybe we should start with how we met." Steve offered, "We start with you and then you can explain the Serum, that'll probably be the least confusing thing to tell them about."

"What do you mean by how you met, aren't you brother and sister?" Falsworth questioned.

Starlyn gave them a small smile, "No, we're not, we just tell people that to save on the confusion and the fake documents I created help with that, and since Steve's mum had died not long before we met there wasn't really anyone to refute the claim." Star took a deep breath, "It's going to be hard to believe but, here we go.

My real name is Starlyn Wolfe, I was born October 19th 1984, in Australia and I am not completely human. In the year 2012 I was in New York heading to the Brooklyn Army base where I had been assigned when there was some sort of attack and I was hit with this giant ball of blue light, next thing I know I am waking up in Steve's apartment with the two of them looking over me.

I told them I had no idea how I got into the alley they found me in and I sprouted out about New York being under attack and they told me to look out the window and New York was fine, nothing was going on, I then asked them about the war that was going on at the moment that they had said was going on but wasn't State side and they told me it was World War II. I was freaking out but never told them anything. I didn't tell them anything for a few months, not until a little while after it was finally announced that America was finally joining the war." Starlyn stood and went to get a glass of water before re-taking her seat and continuing.

"I had just gotten back from training as a nurse and I was cooking lunch when the boys walked in, surprising me and because of that I dropped a plate on the floor and it broke and that was how they found out that I wasn't completely normal. I walked over the broken plate to give them a welcome home hug 'cause I hadn't seen them in a while and they freaked out, Bucky picked me up and put me down on the couch while Steve got a cloth and water to clean up my feet and what they saw surprised the both of them." She paused here, what could she do to show them what she was talking about. Bucky moved her feet from his lap and went into the kitchen and pulled a knife from the butchers block and came back over and swiftly stabbed Star in the stomach before anyone could do anything.

"What the hell Bucky!?" Everyone but Steve and Starlyn yelled as he sat down without a word, leaving the knife in Star's stomach.

Starlyn stood up and pulled the knife from her stomach and lifted her top so that everyone could see the wound and so they could also see that the wound was healing, she wiped away the blood with a tissue leaving unblemished skin behind, "This is the not normal human part." She told them as she went to the kitchen to wash of the knife and the blood on her hands before sitting down again, "I am known as a mutant. A mutant is a human that has evolved, I and others like me are said to be the next stage of human evolution and we end up with special abilities, some can read minds, some can fly, some can transform into animals, walk through walls, there are so many abilities and I'm sure that if it was known, the Army wouldn't have wasted the effort in making a serum to make a super soldier because mutants are already 'super'.

What I can do is regeneration, it's how my shoulder healed, how the wound Bucky made healed, even if I get shot in the heart, it will eventually heal and I'll be back up and running around in no time. It's actually really hard to explain and not everyone inherits it. I mean, your would/could be great grandchildren could be mutants for all we know, there is no way to determine who will become a mutant and who won't.

When I first met Doctor Erskine I let him know straight away because I didn't think that the serum would be good enough and it wasn't, there was only a small potential that the serum would work, we worked on the serum for a bit longer and brought up the percentage but it still wasn't good enough so Erskine added the mutation from my D.N.A to the serum and it only just went over 50%, the rest of it was all Steve.

Now that is my defensive, I also have an offensive." She said and let the 6 30cm long blades come from between her knuckles shocking everyone around them, "These were once bone." She murmured sadly, "But then I was kidnapped by a branch of the United States Army and experimented on along with another mutant who is similar to me. They fused this metal to my entire skeletal system, it's called Adamantium and it's stronger if it comes from the meteorite than the manufactured stuff. You shoot me in the head and the bullet will only penetrate to the cranium, it won't go through to my brain because of the metal. My bones won't break and they can't be cut through either, I am pretty much indestructible." She could see the looks of disbelief on the face in the room, she knew it was hard to believe so she pulled her hand bag from the side of the couch and took out her I.D and phone, she handed around the I.D and powered up the phone to show them some non-descripted photos.

Howard practically went giddy when he was handed the phone and Star spent a few minutes explaining a few of the phones functions before moving on to the others to show them what the phone was and the photos of the places in the future she had visited that they would know. While they did that she went back to the kitchen and started to dish up lunch and put it out on the table and everyone swooped in like seagulls once she was done leaving the phone and I.D abandoned on the couch.

"I have a question." Gabe spoke up before he dug into his meal.

"Yes Gabe?"

"What did you mean by 'super soldier'?" He wondered.

Starlyn gave him a smile and patted Steve on the shoulder, "Steve is a super soldier." She said and went to her seat, "It's a part of the next lot of information that we'll be talking about after lunch."

For the next hour there was a companionable chatter amongst everyone as they ate, giving their compliments to the chef as they ate, they now understood why Bucky got so excited about the marinated steak. Star was the first to finish and took her plate to the sink and disappeared into her room to grab what she had told Howard she would give him to add to her weapon.

"Is this the stuff that your bones are made of?" He questioned Star as he looked the rock over, he could see slivers of silver throughout the rock.

"Yeah, it needs to be heated to a pretty high rate, like 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit and has to stay at that heat until it has been shaped." Star explained, "So you'll have to have the cast already made."

"That's already done, it's the heating up that I'm going to have to get creative with." Howard murmured already thinking of ways that he could make it happen.

Not long after everyone was back in the lounge and waiting for the explanation about how Steve became the way he was now, especially since they had seen proof that Steve wasn't as he was, the only ones that knew were Peggy, Howard, Steve and Starlyn but even then Steve didn't know much, it would be up to the other three to explain.

"Okay this is just as much of a disbeliever as what I told you but Howard and Peggy can back me up with some of the facts about the experiment, as I had told you guys before I was from the future, I already knew about Captain America and the Howling Commandos and that Abraham Erskine had created a serum that would enhance what a person already was, in Steve's case it helped transform him into the man he should have been, but he also got extras like enhanced strength, eyesight, speed.

I'll give you an example, 'Skinny Steve' pre-serum was as followed: _Height_ : 5'4''; _Weight_ : 95lbs; _Eyes_ : Astigmatic; _Ailments_ : asthma, scoliosis, fallen arches, heart arrhythmia, partial deafness, stomach ulcers and pernicious anaemia; _Bench Press_ : 30lbs and _100 yard dash_ : in 21.48 seconds." At the looks she was getting from all but Howard and Peggy she could tell they still had a little bit of a hard time believing the man in front of them was so inept.

"Post Serum Steve is as follows: _Height_ : 6'2''; _Weight_ : 240lbs; _Eyes_ : 20/20; _Ailments_ : None; _Bench press_ : 2,000lbs and can do _100 yard dash_ in 9.38 seconds, though I think he could lift much more and run faster.

Any who I think I've gotten ahead of myself, Erskine had created the serum but it was only in its preliminary stages when he was picked up by HYDRA because Schmidt had heard about what Erskine was trying to accomplish and he wanted the formula and he got it before Erskine could run any further tests to see if it was safe to use. That was how Erskine found out the potential of his serum when given to the wrong person.

Finally Erskine was save by the Allied forces and Operation Rebirth came to fruition and Peggy, Howard and myself were assigned to it and Erskine went about looking for the right man to give the serum to and that is where Colonel Phillips came into it, he was to specially train a select group of individuals chosen for the experiment, Phillips was hoping it would be Gilmore Hodge but Steve jumping on a dummy grenade made sure that he got the vote."

"What did you say?" Bucky questioned turning to look at Steve with a dark look on his face.

"It was nothing Buck, really." Steve said brushing it off, he didn't see what the big deal was.

"Phillip's threw a dummy grenade in to the group thinking that Hodges would do the right thing, but he bolted with everyone else and Steve jumped on the grenade to absorb the blast, I just about had a heart attack when I saw what happened." Star explained and she rubbed her chest at the thought, she was terrified that day, "Watching someone do that and go boom is not a pretty sight." She said rubbing at her neck, "And so Stevie was chosen. Erskine had said that the serum would make a good man great and a bad man worse and he was right, when Schmidt injected the unfinished serum into himself he changed, not just inwardly but outwardly as well, hence the name 'Red Skull', so the bad became worse but when injected into pure hearted Steve it made a good man great.

The process what pretty straight forward, Steve was put into his pod and began with a series of microinjections into the Steve's major muscle groups. The serum infusion would cause immediate cellular change within the body, and then to stimulate growth, Steve would be saturated with Vita-Rays. Steve screamed in pain, I wanted to jump out of my pod and check on him, be damned the consequences of my actions."

"So did you." Steve interrupted with a little bit of a pout.

Star gave him an indulgent smile, "My pain threshold is very high Stevie, I only started screaming because you did, I had to seem like I was just an ordinary iddy bitty human going through the same process as iddy bitty Steve."

"It's true." Peggy spoke up, "Starlyn only started screaming once you had started."

"See and this is actual proof that women are stronger than men." Star said smugly.

"Are not." Dugan piped up.

"Actually it has been scientifically proven that women have a higher pain tolerance than men." Dugan just snorted in response, "It's true Dugie, it's because we have to pop a watermelon out of a hole the size of a peach pip."

"I do believe that we have gotten off track." Falsworth spoke up before it could become a pissing contest between males and females. And with those two women in the room, he had no doubt that they would win.

"Any way, as you can see that the serum worked and Steve has become the super soldier that Erskine had wanted to create, but with his death, the serum died with him and the SSR took about 12 vials of blood from Steve to unlock the secret of the formula. And one day they may but not right now." She finished off explaining.

"What about the whole knocking out Hitler 200 times?" Morita wondered.

Both Starlyn and Steve groaned, that was something that they would both prefer to forget, "Brandt had us parade around in tights selling Bonds, and doing the USO shows and one of the acts was me punching out a sneaking Hitler and getting the 'girl' so to speak." Steve explained, "Brandt wanted us to actually kiss but there was no way that was going to happen so Star came up with a slight of hand where we could hide the kiss behind the shield and only the chorus girls knew that we weren't actually kissing."

"It was such a lovely kiss." Star swooned with a hand to her forehead and another to her heart but couldn't hold back the laugh, Steve just rolled his eyes in response. "Though if I remember correctly, Candice quite enjoyed that snog back stage." She teased and Steve went bright red much to the amusement of the guys and the irritation of Peggy.

"What's this?" Bucky questioned, "Steve finally got his first kiss?" Steve buried his head in Star's back at the teasing.

"I don't think that is exactly what happened." Star started, "When I walked in, she kinda just grabbed him and threw him against the wall and attacked him with lips and tongue. He was just way too stunned to do anything and we both know that Steve will never lay a hand on a woman in a negative way, so I threw her off of him for him." She explained.

Bucky snorted and couldn't control the burst of laugher that had him doubling over at Steve's misfortune and he couldn't stop, "I think he might suffocate is he doesn't stop laughing." He heard Gabe speak up but he just couldn't stop.

"I might suffocate him." Steve grumbled as he glared at his hysterical best friend.

"Oh leave him be." Star told him and pulled out her photo album and handed it over to the others to have a look through, "Our life before the war." She explained as they grouped around the album and started to flick through the pages.

A few hours later everyone got up to leave saying that they would meet up tomorrow to train and go over the weapons that the group would be given by Howard to use when they went about taking down HYDRA, Howard had told the boys he had some wonderful toys for them to play with.

* * *

Yes I know what Bucky did is out of character but I really couldnt think of anything else to reveal Star's regeneration so forgive me for that but I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter all the same. ;)


	19. First Base and Nightmares

Starlyn and Steve studied the maps for hours while the boys were playing with their toys and strategized the best plans that they could before they would even go about taking out the HYDRA forces, they wanted everyone to get out in one piece.

They ping ponged ideas off of each other for each mission and once they felt like they had something solid they wrote it down so that they could let the others know the plans later, they also had some Ariel shots of each location so it would help them with how they were going to get in and out.

Star let out a tired sigh and moved back from the maps and sit down, "I think that's enough brain work for now." She muttered as she pours a glass of water for Steve and herself.

"Yeah, I agree." Steve responded as he sat down as well, "Maybe we should join the guys and have a work out."

Star nodded, "Yeah, sounds good, I know that I can't get fat but I feel like if I don't do anything that I will." She said standing up and heading for the gym with Steve following and saw that they guys were already in there getting in some of their own training.

"Hey guys." Star and Steve greeted as they entered and went over to the locker room to change out of their dress uniform and into some sweats before coming back to work out.

"Did you know that Stark was making us some uniforms as well?" Bucky questioned the pair from where he was at the punching bag.

"Had no clue, guess Howard got carried away with doing ours that he thought he do something for you lot as well." Star responded, "What are they like?"

Bucky shrugged, "Just normal, nothing like what he's made for the pair of you, but made of some material's that will help us out on the field." He explained.

"Just be glad of that." Steve told him, "We could have made it so that you all were dressed up just like us."

"That would have destroyed our friendship." Bucky told Steve point blank and Steve laughed.

"Well realistically speaking, all of you are sidekicks." Star piped up from where she was bench pressing with very little effort.

"Oi." All the guys yelled out.

Steve and Star laughed at their indignation at being called sidekicks, "Don't worry guys, Star is just teasing, we're all in this together, we're going to take out HYDRA together there are no sidekicks just a team." He told them with a smile.

"She going to kill me." Dugan muttered as he went back to lifting weights and the others went back to what they were doing.

"Starlyn." Howard interrupted coming into the room, "Can I borrow you for a minute?"

Star put the weights down and sat up, "Sure." She said and followed him out of the gym.

"Sorry to do this but I need to get the final measurements on your outfit and for you to try a new mask I had made." He explained as they entered his 'play' room.

"As long as no one gets handsy it's fine." She told him, she really didn't like being man handled.

"I think I've got the measurements right from what Steve gave me but I just need you to try it on before I finish it up." Star nodded at the explanation as she stripped down behind a curtain and pulled on the suit that was sitting there.

The outfit was much like Steve's, but it was more feminine and tighter but wouldn't hinder her movements, and it was a mixture of her stage costume as well to kind of show that it was a woman wearing it and kicking ass. The suit fit well, she didn't think that it needed to be altered, and she walked out from behind the curtain to show Howard the fit of the outfit, "So what do you think?" She questioned turning about to show it off.

"Looks like I don't need to do anything." Howard said with a smile, "Seems Steve was right in his measurements."

"Surprisingly Steve is pretty good at the sort of stuff." Star responded, "Once he went and got me a dress for my birthday, Steve isn't the type to go through another person's things, especially not a woman's, but I guess it's because I was pretty much the same size as his mother." She explained and went back behind the curtain to change, "That and he probably remembers the measurements from when I was measured at the Miss Coney Island."

"I would have paid money to see that." Howard chuckled.

"Thank God you weren't there, I can hear the catcalling and lewd innuendo now."

"Did you win at least?" Howard asked.

"I did, but I never told the boys what I won." Star said as she came out from the curtain fully dressed again.

"What did you win?" Star lent over and whispered in Howard's ear and his eyes went wide at hearing what it was that she had gotten for winning, "Did you do it?" Star just gave a shrug as though saying 'you'll never know', before walking off to join the boys back in the gym.

* * *

Today was the day that they were going to take out the first of the HYDRA bases and they were suiting up and getting ready to go when Howard came jogging over to them with a case in hand and stopped in front of Starlyn.

"I finished it." He told her handing her the case.

Starlyn took it giddily and placed it on the seat of Steve's bike and opened the case, the guys crowding around to have a look at what Howard had produced for their female member. Inside was sitting what Star had asked for from Howard, carefully taking it out of the box Star moved over to a cleared space so that she could get a feel for the weapon.

The staff of the weapon was about 30cm long with the head of it looking like the Liberty torch but in mace form and the handle of the weapon could snap apart and held a whip that had the Adamantium razor blades covering it. Star started to move the weapon around getting a feel for it when she lashed it out at one of the dressing dummies, the whip wrapping around it and with a quick pull the dummy was in pieces and with another flick of the wrist the whip was back in the staff. The guys stared in disbelief at the damage the staff had caused.

Star ran over and jumped into Howard's arms and gave him a big kiss on the forehead, "It is perfect Howard." She said getting down and attaching it to her outfit.

"Ahh…" Howard was a little bit stunned, "I uh added a shock pack to the head of the staff as well, just push the button at the bottom it has about 150,000 volts." Starlyn danced around and did happy little claps, but the guys could see a glint in her eyes that had promised pain to anyone that fought against them.

"Is everyone ready then?" Steve asked and at the affirmatives he moved over to his bike, shoved a rifle in a holster on his bike and made sure his side arm was in working order and threw his shield on his back and climbed on the bike while the guys and Star jumped in a jeep and they were off to their first destination, backup would meet them there.

They pulled up to the designated field where they were going to meet their backup to go over the plans once more and to run through the plan again and felt confident in what they were going to do when backup arrived everyone went about doing their jobs and when the sun set they went about taking out the scouts that were patrolling before barging into the warehouse, Steve broke the door down with his shield with ease, the guys had their guns drawn and bullets flying while Star took to taking out anyone that came up behind them.

Starlyn moved through the warehouse quickly and quietly, breaking off from the guys to take out a few HYDRA soldiers with her new toy it was like she was dancing when she used it, guess it was a good thing that Bucky had taught her to dance not long after she arrived, with every twist and every turn she flicked her wrist and the whip went where she wanted it to go, it was like an extension of her arm, much like her claws were.

By the time she got back to the guys there was an unhealthy amount of blood covering her face, hair and uniform that earned her disbelieving looks, "What?" Star responded with and they continued on with their mission.

Once they had gotten to where they needed to be, with Bucky up high being the sniper, Frenchie set the bomb near the fuel tanks and everyone retreated to get far enough away before the place blew, the first one is always the easiest, it was the rest of them that were going to be a problem because now, they were going to be more alert and that is what was going to make these raids 'even more fun' according to Starlyn.

* * *

They had a brief reprieve as they looked over the plans again for the next base so the guys went out for a night on the town while Starlyn went back to her London flat for a nice soak in the tub to relax her muscles and have some her time.

While relaxing in her tub with a glass of wine and some scented candles there was a knock on the door, shaking her out of her stupor and relaxation, with a sigh Star climbed out of the bubbly water and wrapped a towel around her bust and headed to the door to see who was there.

"Ah, hey." Bucky said when the door opened and a light blush stole over his cheeks, "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt." He said looking at a point just above Star's head.

"It's okay Buck, come on in." She said moving back from the door so he could come in and close the door behind him, "I'll just dry off and get dressed. There's hot chocolate in the cupboard if you want to make some." She told him and went to do as she had said. 10 minutes later she walked out of the bedroom and joined Bucky in the kitchen, "So what's up Buck?"

Bucky sighed and ran a hand through his hair, it was with that sigh that Starlyn took a good look at the man beside her, he had bags under his eyes and he didn't look as clean shaven as he liked to keep himself, that and his hair was also getting a bit long, "I…" Bucky's shoulders slumped.

"Go sit down at the table and I'll finish up the chocolate and grab my scissors and I'll give your hair a trim while we talk alright." She told him and nudged him to take a seat and the table while she took care of their drinks, Bucky sat down as though the whole world was on this shoulders and it was then that Star knew that his time in captivity was weighing heavily on his mind and that it was causing sleepless nights and nightmares.

Star brought the cups over to the table and settled them both down on the table in front of Bucky and went to grab a hand towel and the clippers and put the towel around Bucky's neck to catch the falling hair and starts talking, "When I was about 6 I was kidnapped from school as I left the gates to go to my mums car that was at the curb. Once they had taken me they put a bag over my head and injected me with a sedative and they did that several times until they got me to where they were taking me.

I spent nearly a year in their 'company' where they had me train in combat, if I didn't do well they would beat me, they would also train my tolerance for going without food or water, if I didn't do the required days they wanted me to do they would beat me, the reason I found out later that they did all of that was to get my mutation to appear, they wanted to know if there was a chance I had the ability to regenerate.

It seems that they had knowledge on who my father possibly was and was hoping that I had the same mutation that he did but they couldn't be sure until they had pushed me enough for it to manifest and just because my father had the gene didn't mean that I would but they didn't care." She paused in her talking and cutting to take a drink of chocolate.

"I was beaten without remorse when I didn't do what they wanted, they also hoped that by taking me at such a young age that they could make me forget about my life before, about my mum, my friends so that they could have complete control over me, that I would develop a kind of Stockholm Syndrome but I never did because of a couple of other mutants that they had captured to experiment on as well, each one of them had some sort of regeneration ability, but nothing like mine or Wolverine's, they had helped me to keep my identity and they taught me things that they had learnt as they were much older than I was.

I was taught Russian, a little French, Swedish, what they could about medicine, self-defence, and proper mannerisms as one of them was from a posh family and a few other things that I still use today.

One day I finally snapped, I don't rightly remember what caused it to happen because the next thing I knew there was blood and guts surrounding me and the Colonel was there with a smile on his face and clapping as though he was a proud father at his child's baseball game or something.

Not long after that they injected the Adamantium in to myself and Wolverine then locked us up with these helmets that had a little movie playing over and over, they were trying to program us but Wolverine got us out somehow and I went home to my mum where night after night I would have nightmares and there was nothing that my mum could do to help me because I would have skewered her with my claws, that was the hardest time of my life." She rattled off, by telling this to Bucky she was telling him that she knew what it was like to be captured and experimented on.

"How did you get over it?" He finally spoke up as she folded up the towel and took it to the bin to throw out the hair.

"It's not really something that you get over, you just learn to live with it and not let it take you down, you become better than the memories you see when you dream, and when you don't. I joined the Army so that one day, when I saw that bastard again I could kill him."

"Would that be the end of it for you?"

Star sat down and took Bucky's hand, "I'll always have a physical reminder or what was done to me Buck, all you have now are memories, they fade easier when there isn't a reminder constantly in front of you."

"I was drugged the whole time Star, I don't know what was real and what wasn't, everything blended together. And that is what keeps me awake at night, not knowing." He admitted.

"Alright, tell me some of the things that you remember and we'll try and figure out what is real and what wasn't, it's the only thing that will be able to help you move pass this." Star told him, "Over to the couch, we'll be more comfortable as we talk." She said and headed over to the couch, she wasn't going to let this go, he needed to get it out before it ate him alive.

Star sat down on the couch and lent against the arm, one leg on the couch the other on the floor, once Bucky got close enough she pulled him down onto the couch between her legs and she rested him against her chest, sometimes not looking at the person helped to talk about it. Bucky wiggled a little bit until he got comfortable and rested his head on her chest.

"When I first woke up, their doctor had told me he had given me antibiotics to help fight the pneumonia, he couldn't very well do what he wanted when I was so sick. He then loaded something into this giant needle gun that was poised above me and then he injected whatever it was into me, so I remember that much as fact because it was so damn painful when the stuff was injected into me, it's everything after that, that blurs." He started off and was soothed by the fingers carding through his hair.

"Those injections were frequent I'm pretty sure, at least once a day, not that I could tell that I was just guessing at it happened like clockwork. That's when things that start to get fuzzy and I can't really tell one thing from the other, I remember, or I think I remember, him making cuts in my arms and him documenting how long it took them to heal."

"I unfortunately feel that, that is fact Bucky, he was possibly using what few notes he had from Erskine's formula and injected you with the serum and he wanted to see the results of _his_ formula and if it could have been on par with Erskine's." Star reluctantly interrupted, she didn't want it to be true but there was a high possibility that it was and she could feel Bucky shudder.

"Then there were burning pains from injections that I couldn't see and he was documenting those as well there was a lot of documentation going on when I was awake and there was a lot of times that I wasn't or things were just a blur, like looking through a the bottom of a soda bottle.

I really don't know what else could have been done in that time, and it's the not knowing that makes things worse and my dreams fill in the blanks."

Star wrapped her arms around Bucky and squeezed him to her, "I don't know what to do to help you with the missing memories, and maybe it's a good thing that you don't have them or nothing more happened than what had already happened to you. If I knew a telepath in this time I would give 'em a call and find out for you but I don't have that luxury so we'll just keep doing this, talking until those memories fade just a little so that you can get a good night's sleep." She told him but didn't get a response from the man lying on top of her, she narrowed her eyes in confusion and could hear the faint sound of snoring, it seemed that Bucky had fallen asleep while she was talking, it was obvious that he was exhausted to just fall asleep like that.

Star moved a little to slide down next to Bucky, the two of them on the small couch wasn't easy but Star managed it and joined Bucky in the realm of dreams, she just hoped he didn't have any nightmares.


	20. Day After, Breakfast, Next Fight

I'm really really glad that everyone is enjoying my story. There isn't all that much left of book one to go and then it's onto book two. Please enjoy this chapter

* * *

Bucky let out a groan as a sliver of light crossed over his eyes, light that shouldn't come through in his bunk with the others, it took him a little while before he remembered that he had gone over to Starlyn's to talk with her about what had happened to him while he was captured and he must have fallen to sleep while they were talking. Bucky moved and could fell his arm trapped beneath something, opening his eyes against the light all he could see was strawberry blonde hair obscuring his vision.

"Good morning Bucky." Star spoke up, she had woken up when he had started moving from behind her.

"Morning Star." Bucky roughly responded, his voice still sleepy.

"How did you sleep?" She questioned sitting up and looking down at Bucky and smoothing his hair back from his forehead.

"Better than I have in a while." Bucky admitted.

Star gave him a smile and pat on the cheek she headed over to the kitchen and flicked on the kettle before going to the fridge and started to pull out some breakfast stuffs for the pair of them, before starting Star went to the bathroom and did what was needed in there before coming back out to cook and Bucky went in.

Star flicked on the radio and tuned it until some music spilled from the speakers and gently swayed to the music as she cooked up breakfast and made some coffee for them to share, "Smells good." Bucky commented as he came into the kitchen and snatched a piece of bacon out of the pan, "Shit, hot." He hissed and Starlyn laughed.

"Well that's what you get for trying to sneak a piece before it's done." Star said and went back to cooking, shooing Bucky over to the table with his coffee.

Starlyn cooked up quite a bit, it wasn't just for them, she was going to take some to the base for Steve and the guys, it'd be nice for them to have a real breakfast instead of powered eggs and crappy bacon. Once she finished cook she put the food into three glass dishes and settled them into the over to keep warm while they ate their share.

"How do you get the good stuff when there is rationing going on?" Bucky questioned.

Star shrugged, "Honestly if you show a little boob and a little leg you'll get pretty much anything." She laughed.

Bucky chuckled, "You should be careful doing that Star, you might get the wrong man's attention one day." He told her, "It happened back in Brooklyn remember." Star just looked at Bucky in confusion, she couldn't remember anything like that happening, "Gordo." Bucky finally told her to help with her confusion and watched as her entire body shuddered.

"Oh God I forgot about him." She said and pushed her food away from her at the memories and Bucky took it and finished it off, "Whatever happened to him?"

Bucky shrugged, "Steve and I took care of it."

"My boys in shining armour." Star said rolling her eyes but she was glad for it, Gordo was so slimy and hairy, really, really hairy, "He really was gross and I don't even remember doing anything to get his attention." She said and took the plates to the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee, Bucky following to get himself another one as well.

Bucky was looking at Star in disbelief, not that she couldn't see it, "Uh, all you kinda have to do is walk into the room." He told her.

Star turned to Bucky, "What you talking about Bucky?" At her turning they ended up being about a foot apart.

Bucky sighed through his nose and rubbed at his forehead, "You turn heads Star, where ever you go. There isn't many a man that doesn't watch you as you walk away." Star was still looking at him in complete and utter confusion at the words that were coming from Bucky's mouth. Bucky gave a little chuckle, "You really have no idea do you?" He said softly as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind Star's ear.

"I think that you need some more sleep or a check-up." She mumbled shaking her head and went back to doing the dishes.

Bucky ran a frustrated hand through his hair, it was often that Star didn't think much of herself even after the two of them complemented her or guys always asked her to dance, but she was always oblivious to the advances. Bucky moved over to stand behind Star and gently put his hands on her hips and turned her around to face him, "Why don't you ever believe it when Steve and I tell you that sort of thing?" He asked.

"Because there are prettier people out there than me and I know it." She told him softly, "I'm usually the last choice Buck." She turned back to the sink to finish the dishes before she had to shower and leave for the base and go over the next plan.

Bucky turned Star around once again with a little effort this time as she resisted him but he finally got her to turn around and put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up so that she was looking at him, for all her bravado when faced with her feelings she became a different woman. Bucky gave her his crooked smile, the one that got the ladies usually but never seemed to work on Star, before he brought his lips down on hers kissing her softly.

It wasn't much of a kiss, just lips on lips with a little bit of pressure, but it sent a zap through the pair of them, Bucky's grip tightened his grip on her hips, pulling her closer to him and her arms wrapped around his neck as they casually kissed. Bucky soon pulled back, not wanting to go too far too fast and the simpleness of just the press of their lips on each other sent a thrill through him, and this time he wasn't getting an absentminded kiss, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Wha… Uh…" Was all Starlyn could get out, she couldn't process what had just happened, Bucky Barnes had just addled her mind.

Bucky shrugged gently, his thumbs absentmindedly rubbing small circles on her hip bones, "I've wanted to do that for a while." He admitted, Starlyn didn't know what to say, she was still addled by the simplicity of the kiss. Bucky started to get a little nervous when Star didn't say anything and he started to pull away but the grip around his neck tightened causing him to stop moving his finger just brushing against her hips now.

"Don't you dare move James Buchanan Barns." She finally spoke up as she moved closer to him, her body aligning with his and she tightened her arms around his neck and brought him back down to her lips and the kiss this time was more that the simplicity of the first kiss, the first kiss was just the moving of lips, this kiss was the clashing of lips, teeth and tongue. Bucky wrapped his arms around Star's waist and kept her flush against them as they kissed.

Finally they had come up for air and Star rested her forehead against Bucky's shoulder, not wanting to move from where she was, she was comfortable settled in his arms. Sure they had hugged plenty of times and snuggled on the couch with Steve during the winter plenty of times but this time it felt different, it felt… more and it was good and she didn't want it to end.

"I should probably get going, I need to shower and get a change of clothes." Bucky finally spoke up after they had stood there in comforting silence.

"Mmm, I suppose you're right." She said reluctantly and started to untangle herself from the comforting warmth of Bucky's embrace, but not without one last long kiss, "You better go." She said finally pulling back and stepping out of the embrace entirely so she wasn't tempted anymore by the man in front of her.

Bucky chuckled and bent down to give her a quick kiss on the forehead before heading to the door, "I'll see you in a little while." He said as he headed out of the door leaving a giddy Star leaning on her kitchen counter.

* * *

Bucky was in front of the mirror as he shaved off the few days growth after his shower, his towel wrapped around his waist, beads of water trailing down his torso and back, getting caught by the towel a faint smile on his lips as he shaved, thinking about the kiss he had shared with Star, a knocking brought him out of his thoughts.

"Come in." He called as he wiped off the excess shaving cream and Steve strolled into the room, "Hey Steve."

"Hey Buck, how ya doing today?" Steve questioned, he knew that his friend was having nightmares each night, he could hear it as he tried to sleep in his own room. The other guys had nightmares too but nothing as bad as Bucky's, not that Bucky knew that he could hear him.

"Pretty good, had a really good night's sleep for once." Bucky responded throwing his friend a smile as he rinsed off the razor and cleaned off the sink.

"That's good." Steve said, relief evident in his voice the Bucky had caught.

"Why'd you ask?" Bucky questioned, he knew his best friend inside and out.

Steve ruffled his hair in nervousness, it was time to come clean he guessed, "I ah, I can pretty much hear everything going on around the base." Steve admitted, "So I can hear when you have your nightmares." He said throwing Bucky his famous puppy dog look that he knew Bucky couldn't resist.

"That's not fair." Bucky said pointing at the face, "But I'm going to be okay Steve, I just need to get passed it."

"Well you had a good night's sleep last night so that has to be an improvement." Steve said encouragingly.

Bucky nodded, "Yeah, couple more nights like that and I'll feel a lot better." He told him, "Now get out of here so I can get dressed and I'll meet you in the mess." He said throwing his towel at Steve and pulled on his boxers as Steve laughed going out the door leaving his best friend to get dressed.

Starlyn walked into the base with her arms laden with breakfast for the boys and canisters of coffee shoved in a satchel since the mess coffee was an unidentifiable glob and not worth drinking and it certainly didn't help wake the boys up. Star headed into the mess and saw that the guys were already sitting, picking at the food on their trays with disgusted looks on their faces, with a smile Star walked over and put the food down on the table, "Go and get some clean plates boys, I have your breakfast right here." She said pulling off the lids and showed them bacon, eggs, hash browns and sausage, without a second look the boys hurried off to get some clean plates and cutlery so that they could eat the meal Star had prepared them while she pulled out the flasks of coffee that she settled on the table, keeping one separate for Howard when he joined them.

The boys quickly dug in piling their plates the best they could that wouldn't result in spilling any of it, Steve walked over to the table to see what the fuss was about and just as quickly hurried for a plate and was back quicker than they saw him leave and he too piled up his plate with breakfast but not before giving Star a kiss on the cheek in thanks.

"I also have the lifesaving drink known as coffee." She said waving the flasks at them and she had to get out of the way fast before they dog piled her to get the coffee.

"What the hell is going on there?" Bucky questioned as he stopped behind Starlyn, his hand resting on the small of her back.

"I said coffee and they attacked." She explained and they walked around to sit down with Steve.

"You know if you keep treating them to your cooking they'll never go away." Bucky told her.

"It's why you hang around Bucky." Steve piped up.

"Oi, that's not the only reason." Bucky retorted, "I hang around for the titillating company and conversation."

Steve and Star just stared at him with an identical brow raised at him, "Yeah, sure." They responded together.

"Well if it was just Star's food then I would have never been around so much when we were kids." Bucky pointed out.

"You just liked mum's apple pie." Steve quickly retorted.

"Nah ah."

"Yah ha." The guys and Star watched the two ping pong back and forth over why Bucky stuck around Steve's house so much.

"Punk."

"Jerk."

"Boys!" Starlyn interrupted placing a hand over each of their mouths to stop them, "We all know that it isn't because of the food that the two of you are friends, it's because the two of you are stupid enough to fight guys that are twice your size." She said sternly.

"Sorry." Both muttered behind her hand, but she still looked sternly at them both.

"Now shake." She told them taking her hands from their mouths and the two men shook hands before the slumped in their seats pouting, Star patted them both on the head, "Good boys." She cooed and poured herself a coffee.

"Good morning everyone." Howard greeted as he came to the table, "Ohh breakfast." He said and hurried off to get a plate before joining them at the table and piled some onto his plate, not that there was a lot left after the guys had decimated it, "So to what do we owe the pleasure of breakfast?" Howard wondered.

Starlyn shrugged, "I just felt like cooking. Is that a crime?"

"No not at all, if you ever want to keep cooking for us let me know and I'll see about getting you the ingredients." Howard told her as he dug in.

Starlyn pushed over the flask of coffee to Howard, "And here is your coffee."

"You are an angel sent from heaven." He said and guzzled down the ambrosia that was coffee.

"It seems that you can get anything you want but you can't get yourself a decent cup of coffee." Star mused.

"Nobody makes it like you do Star, you have a gift for coffee making." Howard told her with a smile, "So thank you."

"You're welcome Howard, you shall get another next time we're here because you were the only one to say thank you." She said while giving a look to the guys to which they stopped eating and stared before they each sprouted out their thank you's hurriedly.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Howard questioned.

"Going over something's for the next attack." Steve responded, "And then we're out of here and taking out another base."

"See if you can't bring me back some toys so we can try and even the playing field." Howard told him.

"It's not a priority but I'll try my best." Steve told him as he put his plate pushed his now empty plate back from him and sipped on his coffee.

"Well let's get the party on a roll so that we can go and take out those HYDRA bastards." Dugan spoke up as he push his empty plate back too and the guys followed suit and they were off to the meeting room to go over their plans for the next attack.

* * *

Steve, Star and the Commandos walked through the snow covered woods with Steve and Star in the lead, each at opposite ends of the line to cover all bases as they walked keeping an eye out for any enemy sentries that had been placed around their intended target.

Steve indicated for the guys to continue coming as he took a few more steps forward and he paused and looked around for a moment, there was something there and it took him a second to locate it when he threw his shield and knocked a man out of the tree behind and he landed behind Bucky and Dum Dum, Steve caught his shield and put it back on his forearm and continued the trek to the base.

As they took out the soldiers patrolling around and moved on into the factory to plant the bombs there and take out yet another base, all the while picking up something for Howard to play with back at base.

Star moved carefully through the base, checking for any little hidden treasures or surprises that were in the factory but didn't come across much, just some papers that was obviously full of scientific formulas so she grabbed those to take back to base and have the egg heads look at when they returned, maybe there would be something in those papers.

"You okay?" Bucky questioned coming up behind her, he had wondered where she had gotten too and was a little worried when he couldn't see her.

"I'm fine Buck, just looking around for a few extra things that might be able to help us out some more." Star explained and they walked out of the room.

"Alright, we gotta get outta here though, Frenchies bomb is going to go off in a few minutes." He told her and they headed off to meet up with the rest of the group before getting outta there and letting the factory explode and the HYDRA bodies burn.

Over the next week they took down two more HYDRA bases and took out a few convoys as they did so, they couldn't let the other HYDRA bases get the deliveries that they needed to continue to supply their men and whatever it was that they were building.

They were ambushed while going through the forest, bullet's and mortar explosions going off around them but they didn't falter in their movements to take out the men that were firing on them, nothing was going to stop them from doing what they had set out to do and that was to take out HYDRA.

They had heard from the Allies that there was going to be a large shipment of parts heading toward where the next base was and there was no way in hell that it was going to get there if they had anything to say about it and it would hopefully interrupt them for long enough so that they wouldn't be able to finish production on whatever it was they were building.

They were waiting in the tree line for the convoy to come their way, Morita was down the road a little bit, near the bend where he could see the convoy coming, as they came up to the bend, Morita whistled and flicked the flashlight alerting the others that they were coming.

Frenchie hurried out of the hiding spot and quickly slid under the tank, it was the fire power that was to keep the convoy safe, and stuck one of his bombs to the underside of it and stood there watching as it kept driving and then exploded, Frenchie clapped and looked over to the others with a smile and they cheered before heading off to take care of the rest of the convoy.


	21. Film Crew and Mutant Revelations

Starlyn just stared at Peggy, she hadn't seen her friend in a while because of the separate duties they had, but the first time they talk in so long and Peggy tells her that a camera crew would be following them around for a while as they went about taking the HYDRA bases out.

"You can't be serious Peg."

"I'm sorry but that is what is happening Starlyn, the Senator want's the Allied nations to see what Captain America and Lady Liberty are doing with the Howling Commandos and how effective they are with doing their job of ridding us of HYDRA and in effect the Nazi regime." Peggy explained.

Star ran a hand through her hair, "Do you have any idea who bad it can get putting civilians in the line of fire?" She questioned, "They can get skittish Peggy, and that means they can get dead. I will not be responsible for them."

"They have signed a consent form, they have been told of the rules for following you but there has to be someone with them to keep them safe as well." Peggy explained.

"Then find another baby sitter because it isn't going to be me, I've already had a couple of film crews blown up on me because they wanted to report the story of a century, this, I will not do, ask someone else." And with that Star stormed out of the room.

"What was that about?" Gabe questioned as Peggy came out of the office.

"A film crew will be following you around for a little while and Starlyn hasn't taken too kindly to it." Peggy explained, "I don't really like it either but my hands are tied."

"Just let her cool down." Steve spoke up, "She just doesn't want any unnecessary blood on her hands."

Peggy sighed, "How have you all been?" She questioned, she hadn't seen them in a while.

Each man grumbled their responses letting Peggy how they had been, what they had been doing when they weren't off raiding the HYDRA factories and they had asked Peggy how she had been doing and what she had been up to. No one had noticed that Bucky had slipped off after Starlyn to check on how she was doing.

Bucky walked into the gym where Star had disappeared to and saw that she was sitting on the seat of the bench press, "You alright doll?" He asked coming over to the seat and sitting down behind her straddling the bench and tucking her into him.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just don't need to have a couple of civvies joining us when there are explosions and bullets raining down, it's not a place that they should be." She explained to Bucky.

"It's happened to you before?" Bucky questioned.

"Yeah and they ended up dead, parts of their bodies all over the place." She said, "I told them to walk where I walked but of course they didn't listen and paid for it with their lives."

"Well let's hope that these guys listen." Bucky said in an effort to calm her down, "If not, we'll just have to send them packing and there won't be a problem."

Star chuffed, "Brandt's an ass, he won't let that happen." She told him with a sigh and lent back into his chest, she felt worn out from everything and it seems that it was catching up with her, she could do days without sleeping as she was conditioned when she was a child but it felt like everything was coming down on top of her right now.

"Doll?" Bucky spoke up and looked down to see the half lidded look of her eyes, "You been getting some sleep?" He asked.

"Yeah I have, not as much as usual because of all of the shit floating around my head but I get a few hours a night." She explained.

"Well maybe I could come by yours tonight and we can cuddle on the couch again." Bucky offered.

Starlyn laughed a little and played with Bucky's fingers as she sat there, "Sounds good to me, doesn't seem like we've had much time together now that we're together." She mumbled and Bucky brought her hand up to his lips in response.

"Sorry doll, guess we've just been a bit busy." He muttered.

"It's okay Buck, it don't blame you, and we're both on the same boat in that respect." She assured him.

"It would be nice if we could go out on a date though." Starlyn hummed her agreement at the sentiment.

What the pair of them didn't know was the crowd that was hiding sneakily at the door listening in on the conversation like a bunch of gossips, when nothing else was said between the pair they quickly moved back and headed down to the map room.

"Finally." Dum Dum cried out once the door was shut and the others cried out their agreement but Steve who was looking down at his feet, thoughtful.

"How long do you think it's been going on?" Gabe wondered.

"Not long I would suspect." Peggy spoke up, "I think it's more of a recent development."

"Why would you think that?" Morita asked.

"Well if they were together when all of you were captured, she would have been a little worse off in the emotion department then she was. When she found out he was missing she was upset but if they had been dating she would have been a blubbering mess." Peggy explained.

"Agent Carter is right." Steve spoke up, "Except for maybe the blubbering mess part, she'd go on a murderous rampage and then she would be a blubbering mess." He told everyone, "I'm just not sure on when it started." He said and went back to his thoughtful pose while he tried to figure out when it was possible that they could have gotten together.

Frenchie spoke up and Gabe translated for him, "Why don't we just ask them?"

"Ask who what?" Starlyn questioned as she came in with Bucky behind her, everyone just stood and stared at the pair not saying anything, "Guys what's going on?"

"Nothing." Dum Dum said quickly.

"Dum Dum, just spit it out already." Bucky spoke up from behind Star.

"How long?" Dum Dum finally asked.

Star and Bucky looked at Dum Dum in confusion, "How long what?"

"Oh for goodness sake." Peggy huffed and turned to the pair, "How long have the two of you been dating?" She asked for those present.

Bucky and Star were stunned, it's not that they were keeping it a secret or anything they just didn't think that it really mattered that anyone but Steve knew, Steve had a right to know before anyone else but they hadn't had the time with the missions, "Uh." Starlyn muttered thinking back to when it happened, "It was just after our first successful mission." She said a little unsure and looked to Bucky for confirmation and he nodded an affirmative.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Falsworth questioned.

"Haven't exactly had the time, what were we supposed to do say 'hey guys we're dating' in the middle of fighting HYDRA?" Bucky asked of them.

The guys each nodded in response but they were still a little miffed that they hadn't told them as soon as they were able to, since they were on some down time to prepare for the next mission and Star could read that on their faces, "Jesus guys, we got here yesterday afternoon had a meal and went to bed we were all so tired, when in all that did you want us to tell you?" She asked getting a little frustrated, "And besides if anyone deserved to know first it would be Steve." She snapped at them and with a huff headed out of the room.

Bucky groaned, "Oh come on, I just got her calmed down about the camera crew." He sighed and looked over to where Steve was, during the entire conversation he hadn't said a word the entire time they had entered the room, "Steve?"

Everyone looked over to where Steve was standing all quite, an arm across his chest his hand propped under his chin the forefinger running back and forth over his lip, he had his thinking face on and Bucky knew that he wouldn't be able to get Steve's attention until he had stewed on whatever thoughts he had. Bucky moved over and took a seat near Steve to wait until he had come out of the process.

"What's going on?" Falsworth asked confused.

"We have to wait until he's finished thinking." Bucky responded, "When he gets like this he's thinking things through, analysing that sort of thing and when he's done he'll say something." He explained and just sat back and waited for Steve to come back to 'em and have his say.

Finally Steve put his arm down to rest in on the other and looked at Bucky, "Hurt her and I'll kill you before she or HYDRA get the chance." He told Bucky firmly.

Bucky chuckled, "I'll let you." He responded, "I won't hurt her Steve, I swear." He said firmly as he look Steve right in the eyes.

* * *

Starlyn had to make sure that she never removed her mask, it wouldn't do for the camera to catch what was under the mask and set out warning bells for everyone when she couldn't afford to for when she finally got back to her time. Star walked out from the locker room all dressed up and ready to go, they had a mission to go on.

"Ready for the camera's doll?" Bucky questioned throwing an arm around her shoulders and walking with her.

"I'm hiding behind you the whole time Buck." Star responded as they entered the meeting room where everyone was doing their last minute checks on their weapons and supplies, "Every one ready to go?" She questioned as she quickly checked her stuff.

"Let's get to it, we won't be back for a couple of weeks this time." Steve spoke up and headed out to where their transport was waiting and they all climbed in. The drive and the flight was droll as they headed for the area they needed to land in and check over everything one more time before they went off and did what they did best – blow HYDRA scum to pieces.

The camera man and reporter chatted with the guys and Star when there was a free moment asking every day questions just trying to known the men behind the Commandos so that they could humanise the men to the people of the world and show that they are helping in the war effort. Star co-operated but kept up a front since she was the Femme Fatale, she was supposed to be covert.

The group advanced on the base, making sure that the camera crew stayed back, where it was safe with the soldiers that they had for backup should they need it. There was something different about this base, there weren't as many soldiers around, just a basic amount, but the surrounding was locked down tight.

"I don't think that this is a production plant." Star spoke up as she looked around from where she was taking a look at things.

"What do you think it is then?" Dum Dum questioned.

"I've got a feeling it's something that we're not going to like." She said and they moved swiftly on the base, Steve and Star jumping the wall and taking out the guards that so happened to walk where they had jumped before they moved over to the gate and opened it for the guys.

Walking around the front of the building, keeping to the shadows they came to the corner of the building where Steve poked his head out and had a look and quickly brought his head back and looked at Starlyn and the others in shock, "It's a POW camp." He said in shock.

"Shit." The Commandos cussed, this changed everything, they couldn't just go in like they usually would, and there were innocent people around so they had to be more careful with what they did about this HYDRA base.

"What do we do?" Falsworth questioned.

"We're going to have to split up." Star said, "Few of us into the building looking for others and the rest to get those people out of the camp."

"Alright." Steve agreed, "Buck I want you out here with me, up high, eyes on everything." He started ordering, "Falsworth you're with me as well as Frenchie. Dum Dum, Morita and Gabe you check out the factory with Star. We need to be quick, take these men out and get those people safe."

Everyone nodded and broke off to do as Steve ordered, Star's group going into the factory to look for more POW's that could be separate from the others. Star walked through the factory slowly with the guys behind here, guns at the ready. They walked through the halls looking into each room that they came across before Star closed the door and broke off the handle so that no one could go into those room and they couldn't be ambushed from them.

"This floor is clear." Gabe said in confusion, "Why is there no one in here?"

"We need to go down, so keep your eyes open and your guns high." Star said and started towards the stairs, "If there is anyone on the stairs, stay back and I'll take care of it, we don't want to advertise we're coming." She said and started down the stairs making sure to keep to the wall as they went down.

The stairway was clear, but once they had gotten down they could hear an abundance of sound coming from the basement, angry yelling, sobbing, pegging, pleading there were definitely prisoners down there and they needed to get them out with minimal injury and no loss if they could.

"How do we do this?" Morita questioned, "We've gotta be careful about it."

Star shook her head, "I don't know." She sighed as she looked around where she could from where they were hiding to see if there was anything that they could use to help them out but there wasn't much, just the overhead pipes hanging from the ceiling, "Dum Dum give me a boost?" She asked and pointed up at the hanging pipes, it was probably the only way they could by-pass the soldiers enough to get between the soldiers and the POW's.

Once she had made it across and slid into an alcove Morita came over, since he was the next lightest out of the four of them, so that there was two aside, with a nod the four moved from their positions and because of their surprise took out the soldiers with little gunfire, only a couple of shots rang out from enemy gun, each hitting Starlyn as she put herself in between the shots and Morita, they then moved from that hall to another where they walked in to see a four people in white coats that had locked themselves in a viewing lab in fear.

"Check those bodies for the keys for the cells." She ordered Gabe, "Keep the stairs in your sight line." She said to Dum Dum and then turned to Morita, "Check out the rest of the rooms, I'm going to go in there and talk to the scientists." She said with a sinister grin as she looked through the viewing window, she could see the scientists shake in shock and quite possibly fear.

Starlyn moved over to the door while the guys did as they were told, they needed to get the prisoners out of there but had to check everything and everyone was taken care of first, one of her claws slid free and slid through the lock and she pushed the door open and walked in, " _Good evening_." She greeted in German, " _Don't do anything stupid and you just may live to see tomorrow._ " She said and went over to where there were papers lying around, she could make out a few words, she could speak it better than read it, and made sure to bundle them up to take with her and give to the S.S.R to go through.

Star kept an eye on the scientist as she went through the room, when she noticed a door at the back that seemed to be kept locked up pretty tight with all of the locks that were on it, " _Who has the keys?_ " She questioned but no one answered her, they were keeping mum, she shrugged and went over to the door and with a few kicks it ended up in the room, completely off the hinges, it was only then that one of the scientists moved to open a draw and shoot at Star and hit her in the throat.

Starlyn faltered for a moment because of the obstruction of blood and the cutting off of oxygen but with a snarl she lunged at the scientist and upon reaching him she thrust her claws into the man's stomach and chest, killing him swiftly before she backed up, her claws now retracted and she looked at the other scientists, daring them to do something. They were too busy looking at her in fear since she didn't go down like another would but continued on with her business.

Starlyn turned back to the room and flicked on the light to see 8 stretchers in the room, each one containing a body, each body was different, at least three were children, Star turned back on the scientists, " _What were you doing to them?"_ She asked now that her throat was fully healed but they did not answer her, Star smiled a sinister smile and grabbed the closest scientist to her and started to break each of his fingers, the cracking echoing in the room and the man letting out cries of pain, " _What were you going to them?_ " She asked again.

" _They are not normal._ " One of them finally spat out, she had tears running down her cheeks, obviously there was some sort of connection between the two.

" _And that makes it okay?_ " She questioned with a raised eyebrow, " _Are they still alive?"_

" _Yes, they are still alive just asleep, we couldn't risk keeping them awake._ " She told Star.

Star smiled at the woman, " _Thank you for your assistance._ " She said and then swiftly broke the neck of the scientist that she was holding causing the female to let out a cry of pain and anger at the action, in her grief she rushed at Starlyn only to end up like her companion before she turned to look at the last scientist, " _Where are their files?_ " She asked.

The last scientist moved swiftly to a cabinet and shakily pulled out the files that she had asked for and placed them on the table in front of Star and then went back to where he was previously standing when Morita walked into the room, "All the other rooms are clear." He told her as he surveyed the scene, "Everything okay in here?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Peachy keen jelly bean." Star responded with a smile, "But I'm going to need some help, there are some people in the back room, knocked out with something." She explained, "The female said that they weren't normal."

Morita nodded and looked to the scientist, "What we going to do with him?"

"Maybe we should take him with us. The S.S.R might get more outta him than what I could right now and find out if there are a few more of these bases around." She said and knocked out the scientist so that he wouldn't go anywhere and went back into the back room to get rid of the I.V from each patient's arm so that whatever they were under would wear off enough so that they could walk out somewhat under their own power.

"How are things out there with Dum Dum and Gabe?" She asked coming back into the main room.

"They've opened the doors but the prisoners aren't moving from the cells, even with Gabe talking to them, trying to get them to come out and follow them, but they aren't having a bar of it." Morita explained.

Starlyn thought for a moment and looked back into the room behind her, "Come on, give me a hand." She said entering the room with Morita behind her and he watched what she was doing before following what she was doing and in a procession they very, very carefully pulled the stretchers after them to where the main of the POW's were, "Gabe go back to the viewing room and grab the scientist nearest the door, he's coming with us for information." She said to Gabe and moved the stretchers so that they were in view, " _Please, we really mean no harm, we are here to help. We are with the United States Army, some of my comrades are outside getting the rest of the POW's out. We could use some help getting these people out of here, they have been drugged by the scientists so we're going to need help getting them out of here and getting them home._ " She gave it a turn at getting the people to come out of the cells.

The people slowly moved out of the cells, some came rushing over to the stretchers, they were either family or just knew them, but there was no one to take the children, _"Do you know if the children's parents are alive?_ " She questioned a few of them, as Gabe came back with the scientist over his shoulder and she received head shakes in response, hopefully there would be family outside with the other prisoners, "Alright guys, let's get top side." She said grabbing one of the children while Dum Dum and Morita grabbed the others and made their way back out of the basement and into the outside world where Steve and the others were waiting for them, the soldiers dead and the prisoners free.

Three couples let out cries of joy and came rushing over to Star, Morita and Dum Dum and took the children from them, tears of joy running down their cheeks as they smothered their children in kisses. The people that had been under were slowly starting to come to.

"Do I want to know what you found down there?" Steve questioned.

"They were being experimented on is my guess and from what one of the scientists said, the people they put under, they're mutants." Star explained so that only Steve could hear, "Probably the only ones that they found because their mutation was obvious or they couldn't control it under the stress of what they were going through." She said as she looked over at the 8 that were still coming around.

"What do we do?" He questioned.

"We let these people go home should they still have a home to go to." Star responded.

Steve nodded, "Of course Star, you know I would never condone anything else." He soothed her.

Star sighed, "I know Steve, I'm sorry." She said and went back to the people and looked them over, explaining that she was a medic and was just checking them for injuries that should be treated straight away, when she got to the 8 that had been sedated they were quite weary about her approaching them.

" _Everything is going to be okay, I promise, all I would like to know is if you have any injuries from your time in captivity._ " She explained to them, her voice soothing to them, it always worked on agitated soldiers when she was working on them. Something Star had also gotten while she was doing her rounds was that everyone, every single one of the prisoners were mutants, she could smell it in them the best she could probably do was tell them she was the same, " _You were taken by the scientists because you were mutants, because you couldn't control your mutation with the fear and stress and that is why they took you._ " They looked at her in shock, the entirety of the POW's were, " _We aren't here to hurt you._ " She said and grabbed her knife and cut her arm in front of them and they watched as it healed, " _I am one of you._ " She said.

At this they let her check them over and she couldn't find anything physically wrong with them, so she moved back over to where Steve and the guys were standing. "They're all good to go, now we just need to know where to take them." She told him, "But we need to make sure it's somewhere where they can't be taken again, they need to be behind Ally lines."

"Why do they need that?" Dum Dum questioned.

"Because they are _**all**_ like me." She stated simply and everyone looked over at the prisoners that were looking back at them, "Let's just get going. We'll figure something out on the way."

"We… want… to… go… home." An older man spoke up, seemed to be the leader of those gathered, in broken English.

Star walked over to them, " _They might come back for you if they passed on the information about the 8 that they had in the basement."_ She started, " _Will you be able to fight them off? Will you be willing to fight them off_?"

" _They took our young, did things to our young, we will fight if they come back._ " The elder informed her strongly.

Starlyn gave them a smile, " _Of course if that is what you wish, we will take you home._ "

The elder gave her a smile, _"There is no need, we can get ourselves home._ " He explained with a glint in his eyes, _"Is there anything that we can do for you and your friends? For helping us?_ "

Gabe had translated the entire conversation for Steve and the Commandos, "Nothing Starlyn, we don't want a thing from them. We were just doing our jobs." Steve spoke up as he walked over to his sister, "We don't believe in having those we help give us something back. All we would want to know, one day in the future, is that you all lived happy and full lives from here on out." Star translated for him even though there were a couple that could understand English.

A conversation was quickly had between the POW's before a few of them left the group and went over to the Commandos and one to Steve and Star, each one of them did something to each of the men and woman in front of them that left them all a little confused as the mutants walked away from them and back to their people.

One of the children that had been down in the basement shuffled over to Steve and craned his neck so that he could look up at Steve, "You… Captain 'Merica?" He questioned tilting his head to the side curiously.

Steve went down to one knee in front of the boy, "I am, yes." He said with a smile, "This is Lady Liberty and our Howling Commandos, Bucky, Dum Dum, Morita, Frenchie, Gabe and Falsworth." He said introducing each one.

The boy beamed brightly at Steve, before turning to the group excitedly, _"I told you that he would come._ " Star translated for him, Steve was catching on to German but was still a little shaky with it, and the group gave him an indulgent smile as he turned back to look at Steve, "I have…sign?"

Steve was confused for a second before he made sense of it, the child wanted a signature, but Steve would do him one better. Steve reached into a pocket on his uniform where he kept his sketch pad and pulled it out before going through it until he came to the right picture and carefully pulled it out and passed it to the boy, "It doesn't say 'Captain America' but it does have my real name on it." He explained with a smile and then pulled out a pen that he keeps on him and took the paper back from the child and rested it on his book, "What is your name?"

"Wolfgang Degenhardt." He responded and Steve swiftly wrote on the back of the picture before passing it on to Star, she looked at him in confusion before he handed her the pen and she finally understood and signed the paper before going to the Commandos who all quickly signed it as well and passed it back to Steve who handed it over to Wolfgang, "Danke." He said and raced off over to his family to show them what he was given.

"Are you sure you're going to get home alright?" Steve questioned.

" _We will not fear those that hunt us. We will fight and we will defend as you do._ " The Elder responded and they began to file out of the camp, nodding their heads in thanks as they went by and once the procession had passed Steve, Star and the Commandos followed after them and over to where they were to meet the other soldiers and camera crew, who were already out and filming what was going on.

"Did we not tell you to stay down?" Star grumbled, "There could have been others coming with more prisoners or adding shifts or whatever."

Steve pulled Star over to him and gave her a hug, "Don't worry about it, keep negative thoughts away. Today was a good day." He told her gently.

Starlyn sighed, "Yeah I know, let's get back to our home away from home and then get onto our next mission." She said and they headed back to their vehicle to head back to their temporary base.


	22. A Hunting I Will Go

Hey everyone sorry about the wait. Here is chapter 22 for you, it isnt very long and is only kind of a filler chapter more than anything.

Please enjoy.

* * *

Steve sighed as he looked over the papers in front of him, they were translations of the papers that Star had gotten and what he was reading wasn't good. They had been experimenting on those 8 mutants since their captivity almost a year ago. They weren't adding anything to their systems but what they were taking out to see what they could do to simulate the mutant's power so that they could weaponize them somehow to make HYDRA's army even greater, or to use their powers to add to the super soldier serum they were playing with. He just hoped that they couldn't figure out how to add it to their incomplete serum.

"Is everything alright Stevie?" Star questioned walking into the tent.

"Yeah, just looking over the translations of those papers you found." He responded with a sigh.

"I'm guessing it's not good from that sigh." She said coming over and taking the papers from his hands and giving them a read over. It seems that the scientists had documented each power that they had in the basement but thankfully there wasn't one that had the regenerative gene that she did. There wasn't much else they could do to take a mutants power, not with this technology, they could only take her regenerative D.N.A at the moment but only if they knew what to look for.

"Well at least we don't have to worry about that happening anytime soon." Star told him as she put the papers down, she then moved around to where Steve was sitting and sat down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist and head on his shoulder she cuddled into him, it had been awhile since they had just cuddled.

"And what have I done to get a cuddle?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her too.

Star shrugged, "We haven't had any time together lately and I'm just in need of a brotherly hug."

Steve chuckled and rested his chin on the crown of her head, "Sounds good." He murmured and they just sat there, ignoring the world around them for a little while.

Bucky walked around the camp looking for Starlyn but hadn't had any luck yet so he headed to the mess where the rest of the guys were to see if they had seen her since he wasn't having any luck at finding his wayward girl.

"Hey Bucky." Gabe called as he walked in, "You here to join us in a game?" He questioned, it wasn't time to eat yet so they were playing some poker.

"You want me to clean you out again?" Bucky questioned with a laugh as he walked over, "Hey you guys seen Star or Steve?"

"Haven't seen Steve since he got those papers from the Allied scientists on what the HYDRA scientists had done to those mutants." Falsworth explained, "Why?"

"Just haven't seen them since we got back, is all." He responded, "I just don't know where else to look."

The guys threw down their hand and stood up, "Well let's go have a look for 'em." Dum Dum said and they all walked out of the mess and went to hunt down their friends.

"What are you guys doing?" Scotts the camera man questioned.

"Treasure hunt." Morita responded as he walked passed.

"And the treasure that you're hunting?"

"Cap and Liberty. They've gone M.I.A since we got back, just want to see if they're doing okay." Gabe said with a shrug.

Scotts quickly grabbed up his camera and started to follow after the group as they search each tent at the base, the temporary shower, toilet and then went back to stand out the front of the mess where they had started out from.

"Where haven't we looked?" Dum Dum wondered as he took his bowler off and ran his hand through his hair.

"Um, what about the Captain's 'office'?" Scotts tentatively offered, it was the only place they hadn't been yet.

Bucky let out a groan, "Why didn't I think of that." He said and they headed off to the office and pulled up the tent flap and stopped short at the door causing the others to crash into him and complain at the sudden stop only to stop talking when they saw why.

Sitting it Steve's chair all snuggled up were Steve and Starlyn, sleeping, Bucky took steps back and ushered them to do the same and let the flap fall down again, leaving the two to sleep. It had been awhile since they had a decent night sleep and he didn't want to interrupt that for a little time with Star.

"Are they dating?" Scotts questioned.

"Nah, they're like family, they went through the procedure together so they ended up getting close, and she's close with Steve's sister as well." Bucky explained.

"Steve's sister?"

"Steve's sister is a nurse so she goes where she needs to go. They write letters to each other to let them know how they're going but otherwise they haven't seen each other in a few months." Falsworth fibbed and Scotts nodded before heading back over to where his things were.

"I'll go back and wake them in about an hour if they don't emerge before that." Bucky said as they headed back to the mess where they proceeded to play a few rounds of cards before going back to wake up Steve and Starlyn.

Half an hour later a rumpled and sleepy Steve walked into the mess and over to where the coffee sludge was and poured himself a mug before settling down with the rest of the Commandos, "Good morning Cap." Gabe greeted with a smile and got a un-Cap like response with a finger at the African-American Commando.

"Where's Libby?" Dum Dum questioned as he threw out his hand.

"I left her to sleep a little longer." Steve responded a little more awake now.

"How's she doing?" Bucky asked.

"She's doing okay, just needs the extra sleep while she can get it." Steve explained, "Deal me in the next game." He said as they got down to the last couple of players.

They had gotten through a few more hands when Starlyn walked into the mess, her hair a mess and her uniform crumpled as she walked over to the coffee and poured a mug before coming over and plopping herself on Bucky's knee and she took stock of Bucky's hands before peeking over at Steve's and went back to her muck and let the boys play their hands.

"Feeling better?" Bucky questioned as he rubbed a hand up and down her back.

"Yeah, much better." Star responded giving him a small smile before turning on Steve, "When do we go out again?"

"Tomorrow, so we'll be going to bed early tonight." Steve responded as he put some more money into the pot.

"What time is it anyway?" She questioned and watched as Falsworth pulled out a pocket watch, "It's 1520." He said and went back to the game and Star let out a groan, "But I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry doll." Bucky responded with a laugh but handed over a protein bar to his girl and got a kiss on his cheek as a reward before the bar disappeared in two bites.

"Is this all you guys do when you have a break?" She questioned.

"Yeah pretty much." Dum Dum shrugged as he puffed on his cigar, a cigar she was pretty sure he had been puffing on since they started on these missions.

"How utterly boring and droll." Star muttered.

"Well what did you do when you had some down time?" Morita questioned.

"Well booze was a bit easier to come by so we'd have a little drink to go with our games, we played card games, board games and then novelty drinking games like spin the bottle and I never." She explained.

"Spin the bottle? I never?" Gabe questioned.

"Spin the bottle is where you spin an empty bottle, if I were to spin the bottle and it landed on Gabe then I would have to kiss Gabe and then it's his turn, basically it's a roulette kissing game." She explained, "And I never, is where someone comes up with a 'never', so I never had sex in a public place, if you have had sex in a public place then you drink the shot and the next person has their turn, it's just a giant drinking game to see who gets drunk first and who has done the most 'never's'." She told them with a shrug.

"Why would you do that?" Morita questioned.

"Because getting drunk is half the fun and because I can't get drunk I learn all sorts of things from my drunken squad mates." Star said with a smile, "Great way to get blackmail."

"So that's why you do it?" Gabe questioned for Frenchie.

"Yep, especially when a guy kisses another guy." She said and cackled at the thought, especially if those people were drunk enough.

"Well we're never playing either with you then." Dum Dum said.

Star gave him a shark like smile, "How do you know that I don't already have something on all of you?" She questioned and saw the guys visibly gulp at what she could possibly know about them, "Yes gentlemen be afraid, be very afraid."

"Probably can't be any worse that what she knows about us." Steve spoke up, Star had quite a bit on both he and Bucky.

"Oh, I don't know. I know a lot of things about all of you." Star said as she picked at her nails without a care in the world.

"You are a Goddess and I worship the ground you walk on." Gabe spoke up and mimicked bowing at her feet from where he was sitting.

Star preened at the attention, "Why yes, yes I am and yes you do." She laughed.

"But seriously, DO you know things about us?" Falsworth wanted to clarify.

"I guess you will never really know." Star responded as she got off of Bucky's lap and sauntered into the kitchen to see what they had for dinner and saw that there wasn't much for them to have and they wouldn't be getting another food drop until the end of the week. Star walked back out and joined the guys with a thoughtful look on her face, "So we have a tiny problem."

"What sort of problem?" Steve questioned as he put into the pot.

"We don't have much in the way of food and the next drop isn't until the end of the week." She explained.

"How much is not much?" Dum Dum asked.

"Basically there is enough there for one person and not anywhere near enough to keep Steve and I going." Star explained, Steve and Star's metabolism ran much faster than everyone else's so they needed more food than was normal.

"What are we going to do then?" Morita asked.

"I am going to go hunting, see what I can find out there." She said as she brushed a hand through her hair, "I'm going to go and have a look at the map of the area to see if there is a good place to hunt." She said and headed off to do just that.

"You're not going alone." Bucky called after her.

Star turned around, "Buck, you guys don't know how to hunt, now do you?" The guys shook their heads, "I will be fine guys, really. I've done this plenty of times." She said and walked out of the mess and headed for the office where she looked over the map at where the best place to hunt would be but saw a farm not too far from where they were camped out.

When she came out of the tent the boys were standing there waiting for her and she rolled her eyes but gave them all a smile, "Honestly, I'll be fine guys." She said and gave them each a kiss on the cheek and headed out of the camp site to go hunting.

Starlyn walked through the woods, keeping an eye out for any game as she walked, hoping that there would be something, but with the cold coming in the animals were starting to gather what they needed while they hibernated. Starlyn had walked for a few miles when she came up to the farm that she had seen on the map and walked around the homestead, there wasn't much there, not even the tractor to help with the fields, she went over to the barn to have a look in there as well and saw an unfortunate sight, hanging from the rafters it looked to be the farmer, his wife and two young children. Besides being strung up they were riddled with bullet holes as well.

Starlyn jumped up to the beam and cut the poor souls down so that they may be put to rest with each other, she grabbed a shovel and headed around the back of the barn and started to dig holes to put the family into. An hour later the holes were dug and the bodies carefully wrapped and placed in their respective holes and re-buried and unnamed crosses put at the head of their graves before she headed for the house to see is there was anything to identify the family so that she could add that to their graves.

Starlyn then moved over to the milking shed to see if there was any chance of a cow being in there or that there was a field behind that where they were grazing a field and then she'd have a look over the chicken coop and maybe she would be lucky, if not, back to the woods she would go.

Walking around the milking shed she saw that there was a grazing cow and it looked like there was still a fair bit of meat on its bones even with how long it had been since the farmer was killed, and she was glad, the cow would feed them until they got their food drop and maybe have a little bit left afterwards. Star walked around the rest of the farm to see what else was there but didn't come up with much luck, the chickens were dead from not getting their feed and any horses they had looked like they had already been taken by whoever killed the family.

Star headed back over to where the cow was and swiftly killed it before setting up a butchers block with some wood and started to skin and cut the cow into manageable pieces and in the pieces that people were more fond of though she did throw in the live, heart, tongue and brain as well since some people like that kinda thing. Packing it the best she could she headed off the farm from the opposite direction and went around the long way hoping to maybe find some more meat or even some herbs that the meat could be cooked in.

As Starlyn walked she could see that the sun was beginning to set, she had been out much longer than she had planned but it wasn't that big of a deal, she was heading back towards camp anyway and she'd be able to settle the guys concerns about why she had been gone so long. Besides, they would be happy with a nice juicy steak.

Star walked into the camp and headed to the mess where she split the meat in to the fridge and then walked back to the cooking area of the kitchen and started to prepare dinner for herself and the guys, she was going to create a hearty stew for them to have, it would keep them full for a little longer till they could get their next meal.

She could soon hear the tromping of boots enter the tent and come her way, "What the hell took you so long?" She heard Bucky grumble.

"I didn't think that you guys would want me to gut, whatever I found, here at camp, especially if the animal was questionable in its' supply of meat." She explained, "But you'll be happy to know that I found a farm a couple of miles out that had a lone cow."

"What about the farmer?" Steve asked.

"Was already dead when I got there, his whole family was. They were strung up from the rafters and filled with bullet holes, it's why it took me a little longer to get back. I cut the family down and buried them." She sighed, "They killed two little kids, all because they wanted what was on the farm."

"Jesus." Gabe breathed and Frenchie was muttering away in French and crossing himself so Star concluded that he was saying a prayer for the family.

"This war is taking more innocent lives than it's taking those that are causing this bloodshed." Steve said with a sigh as he ran a hand over his face and then through his hair and looked around at the others, "That's it, we're going to pick up the pace, I want to get these bases taken care of a lot quicker than what we're doing, we can't keep letting them gain ground." He said strongly, "Are you with me?"

"Oh yeah, we're with you." Dum Dum said with the guys agreeing.


	23. Do A Little Dance, Make A Little Love

Hey everyone, so sorry about the wait in uploading, as I re-read through these chapters I realised that I needed to add some things and take some things out so it has taken me a little bit longer to get these last few chapters out for you guys to read.

Also the poll should be back up, for some reason it disappeared so if you could vote on that as well I would appreciate it.

the first book will also be finished soon, the last chapter will be around chapter 28.

PLEASE ENJOY

* * *

Chapter 23

Bucky laid on the outcrop of rocks in the woods, looking over the base that they were currently taking down, rubble laid around the Commandos, Steve and Star but there were still HYDRA soldiers traipsing about trying to save what they could from the destruction and get away with it but the Commandos weren't having it, they made sure that whatever they had gotten was taken from them in one way or another, they were not going to let them have any of the information or prototypes get back into HYDRA hands so they can continue their work.

Bucky looked through the scope and saw a soldier coming up behind Steve, hoping to get the jump on the All American Man, he quickly took care of it, taking the man down with one shot and gained a thumbs up from Steve before he went back to fighting, Bucky went back to surveying the area through the scope and making sure that his friends were covered and made sure to keep an eye out on his girl who seemed to be having a little too much joy at killing the HYDRA soldiers, considering the blood she was covered in she was getting up close and personal in their destruction. She had been a little off since she found the two boys with their family in the farm house. He knew that the children having been killed struck a chord within her and that just fuelled the rage toward their enemies and it was leaving him a little bit concerned about his girls' mental state by the time this war was over and how badly she would change by the time they all got home.

Once they were finished with one factory, they immediately moved on to the next spot where they were going to take out the next HYDRA base, like Steve said they were going to hit them hard and hit them fast before they could even have a single second to get things back into order. If they so happened to free the people that they had kept in camps along the way, then so be it and considering that there were quite a few places that had POW camps that the Allied forces didn't know about, so they went about setting them free and taking out what soldiers they could, be it HYDRA or just the ordinary Nazi's, they took care of them in hopes of being closer to winning the war for the Allies and those that were being effected by the war.

By the time they had gotten back to the London base to go over the information that they had gathered, they had liberated 4 POW camps that weren't known about and taken out four of the HYDRA bases that Steve had seen on the map so now they had taken out the 6 that Steve had quickly glimpsed on the map at the factory they had saved everyone from but they were still on the lookout for the base that the things being built were being sent to but the Allies weren't having much luck at finding the base so that it could be taken down but there was still some places to hit until they had the information.

The group were called in by Phillips to the main room where the maps were set up, along with radio equipment and other such things that helped them maintain communications and contact, where he proceeded to explain to the group that they had found a HYDRA base on an island in the Danish Straights and that was where they were going to be heading to within the next few days so they decided to break up and get some rest and food.

Bucky went to his room to shower and change, he was going to surprise Starlyn with a night out with just the two of them so that they could have some time together before they were sent out again, they hadn't had any time together since they had gotten together and Bucky really wanted to cuddle up with his girl.

Steve walked into his best friends' room and sat down on the bed watching as Bucky got ready, "Going to take Star out?" He questioned.

"Yeah." Bucky responded as he wiped the shaving foam off of his face, "We haven't been able to have a moment together for a while." He explained and turned to look at his friend, "You okay man?"

Steve sighed, "I'm okay, just a little worried about Star is all." He responded.

Bucky nodded in agreement, "I'm a little worried as well, she was taking too much pleasure in taking out those soldiers." He murmured as he sat down next to Steve, "Do you think it could have something to do with the serum that was used on you?"

Steve shrugged, "It could be. The serum takes what you already have and it enhances it and Star is a mutant so who knows what the serum could be doing to her mutation. I mean it could be fuelling the Feral side of her and making her more dangerous, more animalistic than she would ordinarily be."

"I was going to bring that up with Star when I went to see her, maybe she should have her blood checked out, see if the serum is interacting with her mutant gene now." Bucky said as he looked up at the ceiling of his room, "It's made me a little concerned and a little ill watching her rip them to pieces."

Steve gave a dry chuckle, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Some of the images I can't get out of my head and I know this is war but it's like Star is really taking it personal now."

"Yeah, not really a good thing at this stage in the game." Bucky agreed getting up and grabbing his jacket and pulling it on, "I'll see you later and I'll let you know what happens with my talk with Star." He said giving his friend a wave and small smile before leaving the room and heading for Star's apartment where he hoped his girl was.

Starlyn walked around her apartment in a sort of daze, now that the adrenaline had worn off and they were somewhere safe, she kept seeing the images of what she had done to the enemy soldiers while they were fighting and knew that this was beyond anything that she had ever done before, not excluding torture, that she had done in her time with the Army, it was one of her specialities, it was why she was wanted by the military in her time, she was just that good at getting the information that her Country needed.

Star headed toward her bathroom to check if the tub had finished filling and walked into a steam cloud and turned the taps off of the now full tub, stripped and went happily into the steaming, bubbly tub and let out a sigh as her muscles relaxed from the warmth but was interrupted within seconds by a knock on the door. Star let out a groan and pulled herself out of the tub, grabbed a towel and headed for the front door when she smelt a familiar scent and with a roll of her eyes opened the door, "You have really sucky timing Bucky." She said looking at her man.

Bucky blushed and stepped into the apartment, "Sorry doll." He apologised as he shut the door and locked it, "Least you know I'm predictable." He said with a cheeky smile.

Starlyn snorted and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "Yes, but back home, you could just walk in and wait, whereas here I need to get my ass out of the tub and unlock the door." She told him heading to the bathroom, "Come on, you can sit and talk while I finish my bath." She said and was followed by a brightly blushing Bucky, she quickly slipped in before he came into the room and made sure the bubbles covered her, "So to what pleasure do I get this visit?" She asked as she relaxed into the warm water.

"Well I was thinking that we could go out and grab a bite to eat, just the two of us." He explained as he sat there only making sure to look at his girls face no matter how much he wanted to trail his eyes downward.

"Is that the best you can do in asking a girl out on a date?" She teasingly questioned him.

Bucky chuckled and went down on bended knee and grabbed her hand and gave the back of it a kiss, "Will you do me the pleasure of going out on a date with me?" He asked with a laughing twinkle in his eyes.

Starlyn laughed and returned the kiss with one of her own on the back of his hand, "I would love too Bucky." She said with a smile, "But I get my nice relaxing bubble bath first." She said sternly.

Bucky pouted in response, "It's not so relaxing for me." He mumbled as he went back to sitting on the closed toilet and Starlyn cackled at the thought of why Bucky was so uncomfortable and it made her pleased that she was able to elicit a response like that from him, "If you keep laughing at me Starlyn I am going to join you in that bath." He warned her but Star didn't, couldn't stop the gentle chuckles and it wasn't until Bucky started to take off his jacket, shoes and shirt that got her to finally settle down but smiling brightly at her man.

"Sorry baby." She said softly.

Bucky buttoned up his shirt and pulled back on his shoes and jacket and sat down with a smile, he had done what he wanted to do and that was ease his girl from the tension that she was carrying, "It's okay doll." He responded, "Now where do you want to go?" He questioned.

"Some where were the guys won't wind up coming to, 'cause it isn't a date when everyone's there." She responded as she thought about where they could go.

"What about the dance club?" He questioned, "They hopefully won't think to go there."

Star nodded, "Sounds good, if you could pass me my towel please, I'll go and get dressed and we can head out." She said holding out an arm for said towel and Bucky moved to gather it and then left the room but not before kissing Star.

Bucky sat down on the couch to await for Star to emerge from the bedroom, he was hoping that the guys wouldn't be at the dance club, maybe he should have told Steve his thoughts and had him keep the guys from the club, but then again, they would probably go just to spy on the pair.

"I'm ready." Star spoke up as she stood in front of a mind wandering Bucky, he looked as saw his girl looking beautiful, not that she didn't always look beautiful to him, but this time there seemed to be a glow around the woman standing in front of him and the dress she was in was simple but made her look even more stunning.

"You look beautiful." He said as he stood up and placed a kiss on her blushing cheek while taking her hand and they started out of the apartment for the dance club.

Bucky and Starlyn walked down the street hand in hand just happy being together just the two of them as they walked, the pair also stopped every now and again at a store front to have a look at what the store held, there was an antique store that she had wanted to go into so in they went and had a look around the store.

Bucky headed over to where there was some jewellery on display while Starlyn was looking at some furniture that she had seen as they walked through the store and Bucky saw a couple of pieces that he asked the proprietor about and had explained that they were made with Opal surrounded with Gold. There was a beautiful ring and choker type necklace and at a reasonable price that he quickly swiped up and hid in his jacket pocket before Starlyn could see them.

It was about 1700 that they had reached the dance club and were shown a table where they could order their meal before the club began to fill up with dancers looking to be free from the war for a few hours just as they were doing.

They talked quietly as they ate their dinner, making sure not to talk about the war going on around them but what they had done back home and what they had missed about being home. Once they had finished their dinner they headed out to the dance floor where a few couples were already dancing so they joined them in a dance slowly going around the floor wrapped up in their own world and not caring about the world around them for the time being.

They had finally made it back to the apartment with aching feet from all of the dancing that they did, they had fun just being together, not that they didn't enjoy being with Steve and the guys but now that they were a couple, they wanted some time that was just them and that is what they had tonight.

Starlyn sighed as she sat down on the couch and pulled off her heels with a groan before flopping back and putting her feet on the coffee table to get the pressure off of her feet and Bucky sat down next to her and pulled her feet into his lap and started to rub at Star's aching feet and she let out a sigh of relief at the feeling.

"How are you feeling?" Bucky questioned looking over at Star.

"I feel great right now, we really needed this night out together." She responded with a happy sigh, her eyes shut in bliss at the foot rub.

"Yeah we did." He agreed as he swapped feet to rub the other, he could tell that Star was starting to drift off, "Hey don't go to sleep." He said shaking her knee gently.

"I'm not." She said sleepily as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

Bucky chuckled, "Yes you are." He said reaching for her hips and pulling her over and into his lap, each leg over the side of his hips as his hands stayed on her hips and her arms went around his neck and her fingers played with the strands of hair and gently rubbed her nose along his in an Eskimo kiss with a lazy smile before bringing her lips to his and they slowly kissed and hands began to slowly move about each other's bodies and the kisses were slowly becoming more heated and Bucky pulled her flush up against him, there was no room between them.

Bucky stood from the couch, still holding on to Starlyn, something that he shouldn't have been able to do considering her weight with the Adamantium skeleton she had, and headed for her bedroom, his shoes, jacket and shirt leaving a trail heading to their destination and Star's dress was unzipped and the top half down around her waist.

No more verbal talking was to be done between them that night.

* * *

Bucky sighed as a sliver of sunlight came through the closed curtains and right across his eyes, he snuggled closer to the body next to him, tightening his arm around the naked form of his girl and rubbed his nose along her neck as he woke up a little more and Star started to stir next to him, snuggling closer to the warmth that he provided.

"Good morning." Bucky said, his voice but a whisper and hoarse with sleep.

Starlyn hummed, "Mmm, it certainly is a good morning." She sighed as she ran her fingers up and down his forearm as she woke up properly, she was totally relaxed and felt love and comfort as she laid next to the man she was with, someone she never thought she would have, that she would never know, but for the first time in a long time she felt that coming back in time was a very good thing to have happened to her.

Star rolled over onto her back, making sure Bucky's arm didn't move from where it was settled and looked at the man on his elbow above her and gave him a smile before giving him a sweet closed mouth kiss that Bucky happily returned and it turned steamy in seconds and hands were moving about naked skin once more.

* * *

Starlyn hummed as she went about making breakfast for herself and Bucky, who was now in the shower, something Star would have to have after but she was enjoying the smell that lingered on her skin, the smell of James Buchanan Barnes, a smell that intoxicated her. A knocking at her door shook Star out of her mood and she headed over to open it to see Steve and the Commandos standing there, each was looking a little tired and Steve's nose was scrunched up and Star couldn't help but think how adorable he looked like that but then remembered that Steve now had a heightened sense of smell and what he was smelling was the lingering scent of sex.

"Good morning guys." She said moving back while giving Steve a look and they all piled in, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked moving back to the kitchen and started to cook up some more food.

"We're heading out in a few hours." Steve spoke up regretfully, "What the Allied spies found out is rather concerning to them so Phillips wants us out there A.S.A.P."

Starlyn sighed as she dished up their breakfast as Bucky came out from the bathroom and stood there looking at the group with a WTF face but shrugged it off and joined them at the table where Star set a plate down in front of him, "We're heading out sooner than we hoped." She explained, "I'm going to have a shower and then we'll talk more about it." She said and did as she had told them. 20 minutes later she was out and dressed in her uniform and joined them at the table with only some toast.

"So when are we heading out?" Bucky asked.

"1300." Steve said with a furrowed brow, he was still trying to figure out what the smell was that came off of Starlyn when she opened the door, Star rolled her eyes and said so softly that only Steve could hear it what it was that he smelt and laughed as his face scrunched up and he pushed away his breakfast.

"What's so funny?" Frenchie asked, his English had improved a little from not speaking much and they had all picked up a little French, enough to communicate the important things with the Frenchman.

Star gave Frenchie a smile, "Nothing really, Steve finally just smelt the dead rat under the floorboards." She brushed aside, the guys didn't really need to know what she and Bucky had been up to. It would save them from the teasing.

"I don't smell anything." Dum Dum mumbled.

"You have to remember that they both have really sensitive noses." Bucky said as he looked at Star, an eyebrow raised in question but she just shook her head with a smile indicating that she'd explain later and they were all soon out the door and back to the SSR base.

End Chapter 23


	24. Commandos Help at Normandy

Chapter 24

The group was heading toward the ocean to get to where they needed to go to get to the Danish Strait when they were stopped by an Allied blockade and they all unloaded from the truck to see what was going on and why they couldn't get past for their mission. There was, as they were swiftly told by a commanding officer, something else that they needed to do first along with the rest of the Allied Nations and by having Captain America, Lady Liberty and the Howling Commandos there was going to show a strong Allied front when storming the beach of Normandy on June 6th 1944, the invasion Operation Overlord was what they were all hoping would help with the beginning of the end of the war.

Deception was already wrought throughout the German forces, the Allied Nations had made sure that there was no way that they could know that it was Normandy that they were heading to with their formidable amphibian force. Steve, Star and the Commandos were going to be in the first of the amphibian transports to make way for the Allied troops that were going to be right behind them. By making sure that the beach was safe for others to walk on and to hopefully have minimal casualties on their side.

Normandy was going to be the largest Allied scale attack on the German forces since the war had began.

"You all ready for this?" Steve questioned as they were coming up on the beach, planes had already flown over head to take out strategic areas where the Nazi's would get help from and they were letting go of their bombs, taking out bridges and paratroopers and glider troops were also released from the planes to make sure that the other bridges were secure and any exit routes for the Nazi's was blocked off and they were taken care of, either dead or POW's, the Allies were aiming to take out a great chunk of the Nazi forces and control over the land.

The transport finally hit the beach, lurching everyone on board, Steve, Star and the Commandos were out quickly and heading up the beach with Dum Dum holding a couple of ladders that would help get soldiers over the barbed wire that lined the beach a few feet from the shore line, they were also huddled so that they wouldn't be immediately taken out by the enemy shooting at the Allied soldiers. Steve and Star moved swiftly through the barricade that had been set up along the beach to stop people from coming further inland, they were heading for the bunkers that were continuously firing so that they could halt the deaths of their fellow soldiers by taking them out and using the bunkers themselves.

Starlyn moved quickly through the sands, making sure to take out any landmines that she had come across on her way with Steve doing the same on the other side, she could hear the Commandos order the men to follow in her and Steve's footsteps since the mines had been taken out within a metre radius of where they were walking. The Commandos were also shooting randomly at the ground to set off more landmines so that they had a broader area to work with and they could get where they needed to go.

Steve split from Star's side to head over to the other side of the beach where there were men needing help and Steve wasn't about to let them all die if he could help in some way, Dum Dum, Morita and Falsworth following after him while Frenchie, Gabe and Bucky stayed with Star.

"MORTAR!" Starlyn yelled as she waved everyone to part down the middle lest they get blown to smithereens, shell after shell came down around them, there wasn't anywhere they could go without becoming vulnerable to an attack, "STAY DOWN!" She yelled over the noise as she stood up, taking a couple of bullets to the abdomen as she look around for where the attacks were coming from before she took off for where the mortars were being fired from and with precision took out the soldiers in the bunker with swift movements from her claws. If she had used the whip it would have brought the bunker down around her.

Star moved from the bunker and headed for the next, there was no way that she was going to let the damn Nazi's take out her boys and she was determined not to lose too many more men to enemy bullets and mortars. She briefly looked around her to see what the boys were doing and saw that they were doing what they did best, they were taking out the enemy where they could while dodging mortars, sometimes using the mortar holes to hide in like a foxhole.

As Star came up to the next bunker a large Nazi walked out to meet her, he was taller and broader than Steve was but with a whiff of his scent she knew that he was a mutant, what kind, she was about to find out. Star's walk turned predatory as she brought her hands up to fight, she needed to get inside that bunker and the big lug in front of her wasn't going to stop her from getting in, the behemoth brought his hands up and they slowly prowled around each other waiting for the other to make a move.

Star wasn't one to wait so she moved swiftly and slammed her fist into the abdomen having her claws come out just a fraction to cut into his skin to see what it was she was dealing with when it came to this mutant and when he didn't flinch she hoped he wasn't a regenerator but when the blood kept coming sluggishly she felt a bit better, he would be easier to kill.

Star dodged a punch to the head and slammed another fist just under the arm pit but the guy just brushed it off, it clicked now, he had no pain threshold for one thing but why he had that along with a mutant power she wouldn't know unless he revealed himself. She could hear the cries of pain behind her as she fought the man, she needed to finish this quickly before more men were wounded or died.

Star snarled at the man and let her claws loose shocking the man for a moment before he grinned sadistically and his hand lit up in flames, ' _Oh boy, this is going to be fun._ ' Star thought as she ran at the man slashing out her claws with a growl and slashing at his chest as he sent a stream of fire at her face that she barely dodged and it caught the right side of her face burning of the flesh and leaving the distinct smell behind as it healed in front of him.

Their fight was a dance, the silver flash of claws and the bursts and whips of flames dancing around them had both Allied soldiers and Nazi soldiers watching the pair in awe as they fought forgetting that they were supposed to be fighting each other, the only ones that were doing any shooting were the Commandos who were used to the way Starlyn fought but it was the first time that they were seeing her go toe to toe with another mutant and one that could wield fire at that.

Starlyn let out a roar that was heard over the battlefield as she launched herself up into the air, a stream of fire hitting her legs burning them down to the silver sheen of her bones as a single claw slid through his neck like butter and his head rolled down the bank of the sand and she landed hard on the sand with a grunt of pain before getting her gun and aiming it at the men inside the bunker and taking out those that she could see before crawling over into the bunker to take out those that she couldn't see.

"Are you alright?" Bucky asked as he came over to where Star was half in and half out of the bunker.

"Just gonna be a minute till I heal." She said propping herself up against the door and re-arranged her legs in front of her and Bucky could see the metal of her skeleton and winced at the look, he knew she had the metal from just seeing her claws but actually seeing the muscles and flesh missing from her legs it was a little bit disconcerting, "What can I do for you doll?"

Star ran a hand down his face, a finger brushing over his lips, "Take care of business and don't get yourself killed. I'll join in again when I've healed." She said giving him a kiss before giving him a gentle push away and she watched him head off back into the thick of things while she went into the bunker and changed the direction of the mortar so that she could at least take out a few more of the enemy while she healed.

Steve made sure he moved around the field swiftly, using his shield to deflect bullets that had headed his way, he was heading toward where the main base camp was to take that out, the Commandos and soldiers taking out as many of the enemy as they could while they followed after Captain America and he was a man on a mission but he also hoped that Star, Bucky, Gabe and Frenchie were doing okay on their side of the beach.

Explosions rent the air, both from the allies and from the enemy, each trying to take the other out with explosive means and in some ways it was working as many men were felled by the explosive force that rocked them as they stormed the beach.

It was hours later that the noise of the explosions and gun fire ceased, only leaving the cries of the wounded that litter the battle field, they had taken what they needed to today and there was no way that the Nazi's could gain it back after such an attack and they had retreated with their tails between their legs and would have to wait for reinforcements to be able to even think about taking back the beach.

"Where's Libby?" Dum Dum questioned as they had all gathered for a SITREP.

"Had to leave her in a bunker, her legs were completely burnt down to the bone, that much damage could not be seen by anyone." Bucky explained in a hushed voice so that they couldn't be overheard, "She said she'd catch up with us during the fight but I haven't seen her yet, I was on my way back to get her when you called me over." He said to Steve.

"Well let's go then we've got a member to pick up." Steve said and indicated for Bucky to lead the way to where Starlyn was holed up.

Starlyn sat next to the mortar she had used to help out the Allied soldiers as her legs healed, because so much was taken from her legs and it was done by fire her healing time took a little longer than it would usually so she couldn't go out and help her boys with the enemy but most of the muscles had grown back by now and she was just waiting for some of the skin to grow back before she went outside to meet up with the guys.

"Libby?" Dum Dum called, he was the only one to call her that when she had her mask on.

"I'm still here Dummy." She called back, that is what her payback was for calling her Libby and she headed for the door so that they could see her and see that she was relatively in one piece.

"Are you okay Star?" Steve questioned as he slammed his shield into the sand so it would stand and brought Star into a more comfortable position and so that they could see the condition of her legs he had a worried frown on his face.

Star chuckled, "I'm fine Stevie, really, I just have to finish healing." She explained, "Trust me, I'm not as bad as I was when Bucky checked on me."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to have nightmares about that." Bucky mumbled as he ran his hand through Star's hair, "Please don't let that happen again." He told her sternly.

Star gave Bucky a smile, "It's unfortunately bound to happen again dear heart, shit's exploding in this war all of the time so it could happen again." She told him frankly and Bucky sighed knowing that she was right about it possibly happening again.

"You alright enough to move to camp?" Gabe asked, "We've got a lot of injured to move." He said looking around the field with sad eyes, "And a lot of bodies to take the tags from."

"It's alright, I can move." Star said holding her hands out for Steve and Bucky to help her stand and they hefted her up and held on for a second before she was stable on her newly grown legs, "Okay, I'm good, let's go and help out with the recovery." She said and they were off into the field to help the wounded and get the tags from the dead they could.

* * *

It was a few months later that the team were heading to Northwest Europe to the Western lines that were stationed at Ardennes where a blitzkrieg ordered by Hitler had caught the Allied soldiers off guard just a few days before and had killed many of the soldiers stationed there so Captain America, Lady Liberty and the Commandos were heading out to help out.

In between Normandy and going out to help in the Ardennes there had been a lot of fighting and liberating by the team, they had gone to a castle in the Danish Strait where they had met up once again with Schmidt and Zola and fought against an exo-skeleton suit and a new armoured vehicle that Zola had created, both were easily defeated but the team was nearly blown to smithereens as Schmidt used a rune stone in an attempt to destroy them. They had commandeered a HYDRA sub and took it back to home base hoping to get the drop on the enemy but found it completely deserted but they carefully picked through the base, splitting up they ended up seeing what the experiments of the HYDRA forces had created an actual Hydra that they had somehow managed to create from the scientists of the base and the beast asked for help so they took the scientist Hydra back to Howard to see what he could do to help them.

Steve had also been busy while the rest of the team were doing something else, Star was helping around the med tents in each town they visited with the rest of the team helping to move rubble to find people buried, helping to clean up the streets, but Steve ended up saving another 600 men from an approaching Nazi blockade on his own as the weather was turning from bad to worse and getting the men out of there as quickly as possible. The entire team had been very busy over the course of their time in the war, sometimes as a team other times on their own.

The team came upon the battlefield it was a mess and a multitude of bodies were scattered about the area so they ran right into the thick of things and helped out the Allied soldiers with regaining some of their ground but a lot had been lost on their side, though the Germans had also lost a fair amount of their armoured force from the beginning of the attack. The Germans had attacked a weakly defended line to mount their attack and hopefully pull through with their plan of encircling each of the Allied army stations and forcing them to throw down their arms.

It was a hard and long battle as they helped the Allies fight for a few weeks when Captain America, Lady Liberty and the Commandos were called back to the London base, they finally had some new information on Zola and they were needed back to set up a plan that would help out the SSR and hopefully help bring down the Nazi regime and especially bring down Johan Schmidt and HYDRA.

Everyone shuffled into the awaiting cargo plane that would take them back to London and sat down with sighs of relief, they would finally be able to get a sit down for more than five seconds before they had to be up and defending again, it had also been a while since they had, had a decent meal, K-Rations could only do so much.

"Oh my God I can't wait to have a shower." Star moaned as she wiggled about and laid her head on Bucky's lap, her feet on Steve's legs, the guys groaned in agreement.

"I can't wait for a decent meal and a beer." Dum Dum spoke up from where he was picking at the frayed edges of his bowler.

"I feel like I've been put through the ringer." Steve said as he rotated his shoulder around a couple of times and wincing in pain at the movement causing Star to sit up and unzip his top to check it out meanwhile Steve was getting whistles from the guys at the mini strip show and a roll of the eyes from Star.

"Looks like you've dislocated it." She murmured as she felt around gently, "You must have thrown your shield really, really hard that last time."

"Yeah, I think I did." He said and gaped in pain as Star slammed it back into place and then redressed her brother before laying back down again.

"Not long now and this shit with Schmidt will be over with." Falsworth said as he lent back and closed his eyes, hoping to get a small nap in before they got back to London.

"Hear, hear." Gabe responded half-heartedly as he was already drifting off to sleep.

"Here's to the end of the war." Bucky said as he lazily ran his fingers through Stars hair, she was already asleep as was Steve, looking around he noticed that he was the only one still awake and with a smile to himself at his comrades, headed off to sleep himself.

End Chapter 24


	25. Gas Changes Everything for Howard

Chapter 25

Star rubbed her eyes as she looked at her blood for the umpteenth time but she couldn't see anything different than how her blood was before the Serum was added but she knew that something had changed, what that change was she didn't know and she was a little afraid to find out what it was that would happen.

"I think you need a break." Came the English tilt of Peggy as she stood at the doorway.

Star lent back in her chair and brushed a hand through her hair, "Yeah, I guess you're right, I can't see anything different anyway." She said with a sigh and gathered up the blood samples and threw them in the furnace that was always lit, warming up the underground base, "How have you been?" She questioned Peggy as they headed out of the room.

"Busy, we've been running around with getting this information on Zola and trying to find the HYDRA mystery base and other information that will hopefully help us with the war." Peggy responded.

"Well at least we've now got that information and hopefully by capturing Zola we'll have all the information that we need to take out Schmidt." Star said with a sigh, everything was soon coming to a close and they would be able to be at peace, well that was as far as anyone else knew, she knew better, Steve would fall and wouldn't wake up for a few decades leaving all those that he loves behind, she just wished she could remember how it happened but knew it couldn't be prevented and now her choice was whether or not she would join Steve or stay with the others.

Starlyn headed for Bucky's room where she had stored her things so that she could give them to Howard for safe keeping she walked in to the room grabbed the bags and headed back out and in search of Howard, she first headed for his lab where he was usually holed up but he wasn't there, "Hey, where's Stark?" She questioned the people inside.

"He said he was going to get a drink." One called back and Star rolled her eyes and left the room, dropped her bags back in Bucky's room and headed out of the base to look for Howard at the nearest bar getting a drink.

Star walked into the bar that the guys often frequented since it was the closest to the underground base and looked around the room and saw Howard holed up in the far corner of the bar nursing a glass of amber liquid, she headed over and sat down next to the man and ordered herself a drink and they both just sat there.

"What's wrong Howard?"

"General McGinnis had me create a gas that will keep soldiers awake for days." He started off, "And I did, but there is no way that I am handing it over to him, I of course had to test it and the results were not pretty and I told McGinnis that."

Star rubbed a comforting hand over Howard's shoulder and got the bartender to pour another drink for the both of them, "You are a good a man Howard, no matter what you create you know when something should or shouldn't be used and this gas is something that you know shouldn't be used." She said trying to comfort him, "Trust me in this Howard, you are a good man." She said giving him a kiss on the temple.

Howard gave Star a small smile, "Thanks Star."

"I do have a favour to ask you while we're here." Star said.

"Oh and what favour is that?"

"My belongings from the future, I need them to be taken care of, I need you to keep them safe until this is all over." She explained to him, "I know that you will take care of my things and make sure that they withstand the length of time."

Howard looked at Star a little in confusion, "Withstand the length of time?"

Star gave him a sad smile that said a hundred different things, "Things I can't tell you Howard." She said softly.

Howard nodded, "I'll take care of it." He told her just as one of the scientists that work for him came barging into the bar and over to them out of breath, "What is it?"

"Mr. Stark, the gas, it's missing." The scientist got out and all three of them headed back to the base, where it shouldn't have been possible for anything to have been taken without the proper protocols and paperwork.

Howard looked around the lab where the canister of gas should have been and it was indeed gone, he slumped down in his chair and put his head in his hands, Star put a hand on his shoulder, "It has to be the General." Howard muttered.

"If it was there is nothing that can be done Howard, he's a General and would have been able to get the official documents together no matter what and the canister would have been handed over with not one feeling of mistrust." Star told him trying to comfort the man, telling him that it wasn't his fault.

"It's going to be a blood bath Star." Howard said, he was distressed at the thought of what the gas could and would do to people, "If the wrong people got the gas then HYDRA would be the least of our problems."

"Give me a few minutes and I'll see if I can't find out where McGinnis is heading with the gas." Star said giving him one last pat on the shoulder and hurried out of the room to do just that, McGinnis would be moving fast to put the gas into action.

Star moved quickly heading for Peggy's office, if anyone could get her the information quickly without asking too many questions it would be Peggy, "Where's the fire?" Peggy questioned when Star barged in and shut the door.

"I need you to find out some information and quickly." Star rushed out, "A gas Howard created for McGinnis that is really bad has been stolen, we think by McGinnis and we need to know where McGinnis is heading."

"What does this gas do?" Peggy questioned uneasily.

"It's supposed to keep soldiers awake for a few days but the test Howard did showed something else and it was disastrous." Star explained, "We really need to get the gas back now."

Peggy nodded and quickly made a few calls, "He's heading to Finow, he's already on his way there you might already be too late." She explained.

"Shit." Star cussed as she ran a hand through her hair, "Thanks Peg, I need to go and let Howard know." She said and left the room leaving a concerned Peggy behind.

Star walked into Howard's lab and he looked over at Star with hope in his eyes that they would be able to get the gas back before it could be used but that hope dimmed when he saw the look in Star's eyes, "I'm sorry Howard, he's already on his way." She said softly.

"Where is he heading?"

"Finow, he's heading for Finow." She said.

Howard sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I need to go." He said getting up and started for the door when Star stopped him.

"There is no way that I am letting you go right now Howard, you've had too much to drink to be able to fly." She told him, "I know that you want to go and stop him, but really there is nothing that you can do, he's a General and you are a civilian consultant, you have no power." She explained, "Rest for a few hours, have something to eat if you can, even if it's just a bit of toast and then we'll both go out to Finow."

Howard stared at the woman in front of him, he knew she was right about everything but still felt responsible for what was going to happen when the gas was released, "Alright." He responded and went about doing what Star had said to do but not without making a phone call home first to build a secure safe in his mansion, thankfully his butler Jarvis would make sure it was built to his specifications and with his materials to make sure it was well protected.

Hours later, after letting the guys know where she was going, Star and Howard were on their way to Finow in his plane, both of them were anxious about what they were going to find, as they came upon the landing space near Finow, after letting the Allies know who they were, they had landed as the sun came up over the horizon.

"Are you sure that you can do this?" Star questioned before they had exited the plane, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Howard squared his jaw, "I can do this." He said and he headed out of the plane and to where the battle had taken place and the gas was released.

The ground was red with blood, it was like a lake had been created from the blood of the many men that had fallen under the gas to put it simply it was carnage and from the looks of some of the bodies it looked as though they had actually ripped each other apart with their bare hands and had rarely used any type of tool to help with killing each other, it was like stepping in to a Zombie movie. Star had made sure to bring a camera to take pictures of what had happened and it wouldn't be a pretty sight for others to see that was for sure.

The bodies were ripped apart, blood and guts everywhere, skulls caved in from ferocious beatings with feet and rocks and there standing proudly overlooking the battle field was General McGinnis, the gas wasn't what he wanted but it did what was needed, "Ah Mr. Stark, come to see our great accomplishment?" He questioned just now seeing Howard and Starlyn, who was in her Liberty outfit.

"What the hell did you do?" Howard asked as he looked around him in horror, he knew that the gas was bad after the tests on the mice but he never realised exactly what the effect would be on a human and it seemed to turn out much, much worse than with the mice, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" Howard roared and threw a few punches at the General, "You fool, I told you, I told you."

Starlyn quickly moved in interfere before something happened to Howard but she wasn't quite quick enough and the General beat Howard down but before more damage could be done Star stopped the assault and glared fiercely at the General, "You made a grave mistake here today General." She hissed.

McGinnis sneered, "What do you know woman."

Star gave a sinister smile and pulled out her rod and aimed it at a tree and the men surrounding the General winced as the tree shattered under the strength of the whip before she recalled it to it's place, "Do you forget who I am General, I can make your life a living hell." She told him, "I have done more in this war with my own two hands than you have. You don't even have the balls to defeat men with your own power, you use other tricks to do so and that makes you a coward in my eyes."

"HOW DARE YOU!" McGinnis roared and moved to hit Star but she caught his fist in a tight grip and squeezed causing the man to go down to one knee in great pain.

"No General, how dare you." She said throwing the man's arm away from her person, "You disgust me." She said to him and looked around at the men standing with their General, she made sure that they knew she had meant them as well and went over to help a stunned Howard up from the ground and herded him back to the plane so that they could leave the carnage behind them.

As Howard was in no fit state to fly, Star took the pilot's seat and they headed back to London where she would write up an official report and get the photo's developed but she knew that she would have to fight General McGinnis on what had happened but at least she had the proof, especially the picture of McGinnis smiling over the carnage, a smile of a job well done.

Star and Howard both walked quietly through the streets of London back to the base, Howard using his handkerchief to wipe away the blood that was still on his face. Star wrapped her arm around Howards waist and instead of going back to the base she leads him to her apartment, it was better to get Howard in a safe and neutral place and get him cleaned up and talk with him about what he had seen and what his gas had caused on human subjects.

Star settled Howard down on her couch and went to grab the bottle of whiskey sitting in her kitchen cabinet and poured Howard a liberal amount and passed it over to the quite man, it was a little unnerving to see from such an outgoing man but she could understand why he was that way and sat down next to him, "Talk Howard, you need it." She said softly.

"How, how can…" He trailed off, he didn't know what to say he couldn't really think.

Star gave him a sad smile, "There probably isn't much I can say to help you out, I do exactly what your gas does but usually with my own two hands. You're going to have nightmares about what has happened for a while Howard, but you need to talk about it with someone eventually and that is going to dredge up the images again."

"How can I live with what I created?" Howard asked softly.

Star brought Howard in to a firm hug, "First off, by destroying anymore of the gas if you have it and destroying the formula and then secondly, create for life, make things that will help people out even if it's something simple, just always remember to do good with what you create Howard."

"How do I even start?" Howard mumbled into her shoulder.

"Well you could look into creating better prosthetics for the soldiers that will be going home minus a limb, give them something for their service, make up a war orphan fund for the children that had lost their families, that you won't have to do on your own, there are plenty of people willing around the world that would help fund the project, doing something like that won't make things completely better, but they will help ease the guilt." She explained a few things that he could do that would help to ease his mind over what he had seen his gas do.

"Thanks for going with me."

"Of course Howard, that's what family is for." She responded and helped him up from the couch and guided him to the bedroom and got him settled down, "Get some rest where you can, I'll be here with you the whole time." She soothed brushing her fingers through his hair lulling him into sleep.

About 20 minutes later Star left the room, making sure to leave to door open so a little light was entering the room and went about making the both of them something to eat when there was a knock at the door a quite a few loud voices, Star rushed over to the door whipping it open and glaring harshly at the loud group, "Keep your bloody voices down." She hissed.

The group flinched at the hiss and the look they were getting, "I'm guessing things didn't go well." Peggy spoke up softly from the front of the group, she was the only one that hadn't been talking and the group looked down at Peggy in confusion at her words.

Starlyn shook her head sadly and indicated for everyone to come in but to be quiet, "It was not good at all Peg." She said as she drank straight from the bottle of whiskey she had left on the bench and polished off the bottle.

"What are you talking about?" Steve questioned with an adorable confused look on his face.

Star quickly and quietly explained what had happened and Howards reaction to what had happened and how despondent about how everything had gone down and how he was currently sleeping in her bed and had only been asleep for about half an hour.

"Would you like me to take care of doing the photo's for you?" Peggy questioned.

Star shook her head, "No, you don't need to see that horror Peggy, I've done a lot of things in my time here and in the future but this carnage was a lot different." She explained.

"It can't be any worse than what we've seen you do." Dum Dum spoke up.

"It is Tim, they didn't use weapons, the ripped each other apart with their own two hands." She told them and that was all she was going to say about the carnage, "Howard attacked McGinnis but got the snot beat out of him before I could move. McGinnis disgusts me and I told him so."

"You beat up a General?" Falsworth questioned aghast.

"No, I gave him a disappointed lecture that would have made Steve proud." She said smiling over at Steve, everyone knew that Steve could give one hell of a disappointed speech that had those he was disappointed with running off with their tails between their legs.

"How is Howard taking it?" Bucky asked concerned about one of their own.

Star gave his a sad look, "He's not taking it well that's for sure and I don't blame him. It was something that he had created to originally help soldiers stay awake for longer but ended up being something that caused unbridled rage. He had used it on mice but from the look on Howard's face the reactions between the mice and the humans were much more extreme."

"We'll help in any way we can." Steve said firmly.

Star was about to respond when some sounds from her room made her dash out of the lounge and to where Howard was resting, his nightmares were starting and she wanted to stop them from going any further and making the man relive what had happened. Shaking Howards shoulder he flew up in a blind panic and looked around the room to get his bearings, "Howard, you're in my apartment." She said gently, "You're not there anymore."

Howard's chest was heaving as he tried to calm down, "I'm okay." He managed to get out and Star moved to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and brought it back to the freaked out Howard and handed it over to him and rubbed at his back to help calm him down, "I don't know how I'm going to do this." He muttered once he was calmed down enough.

"With the help and love of your friends and family. Just like how everyone else is going to get through it." She told him, "Rest a little longer and no you don't have to sleep, but just lay here while I see what I have for dinner." She told him, "Also Peggy and the guys are here."

Howard winced, "Do they know?"

"They know where we were but I didn't explain to them fully what we saw." She said, "Just remember they have seen and done just as much of what we saw today just in a different way, they understand what you are going through as they are also going through it, like I said, you're family and family looks out for each other." And with that she headed back into the main room where everyone else was still seated.

"Do you want us to leave?" Steve asked.

Star shook her head, "No, it's fine just be your normal selves when he decides to come out, it's the best that you can do for him right now." She told them as she looked around her kitchen to see what she had and could put together for something to eat but didn't have much, "I'll be back in a little while, I'm just going to go and get some fish and chips." She told them grabbing her purse and headed out of the apartment and down to the nearest fish and chip shop.

With the friends, the family, that he had, Howard would slowly learn live with what his gas had done but he would never forget and would help out where he could by doing good.

End Chapter 25


	26. The Beginning of the End

We're getting close to the end of Cap America: The First Avenger.

* * *

Chapter 26

The group stood on a snowy outcrop looking down across the ravine at the train tracks that Zola's train would soon be passing by on and that they would be ambushing so that they could get their hands on Zola and find out the information that they needed about the secret base.

It was a waiting game now for the train to come, Morita and Gabe were fiddling with the HYDRA cryptograph listening out for any chatter over the airwaves that things had changed in Zola's itinerary.

"Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?" Bucky questioned as he and Steve looked out over the landscape, the wind ruffling through their hair.

"Yeah, and I threw up?"

"This isn't payback is it?" Bucky asked.

Steve avoided Bucky's eyes and small smile on his face as he looked the cable over, "Now why would I go and do a thing like that? Pay back isn't my style."

Starlyn jumped up from where she had headed around the mountain for a different angle, her claws coming in handy for the work to get around the rocks, "So how are we? We on time for our guest?" She asked joining them.

"We were right. Dr. Zola is on the train." Gabe spoke up interrupting anything anyone was going to say, "HYDRA dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Where ever they're going they must need him bad and fast if they are willing to risk going full speed through snow covered mountains."

Everyone became serious, this would make things a little bit harder, the train would now be moving faster than they were anticipating so they had to be quick down the zip line, Falsworth was still looking out for the train when he saw it come around the mountain side.

"Let's get going, because they're moving like the devil." Falsworth spoke up in an urge to get them moving.

"We've only got about a 10 second window." Steve said hooking up, "You miss that window, we're bugs on a windshield."

"Mind the gap kiddies." Falsworth said with a small smile.

"Better get moving, bugs!" Dum Dum spoke up and Frenchie timed out when each person went down the line, Steve, Bucky, Gabe and then Star, they flew down the line and landed on the train, each one losing their footing a little due to the harsh winds pushing them back further down the train, Star had to use her claws so that she didn't go flying off the end of the train car.

Once their footing had been gained they moved up the train cars carefully but swiftly when they had gotten to the train car they needed Steve, Bucky and Star headed down into the cab leaving Gabe to take position on top and make sure that nothing surprised them from above as they moved to the front where Zola was holed up with the driver.

The three ended up in what looked like a cargo hold, though the whole train was probably a cargo train and there was no one there, the car was clear but they moved through carefully not wanting to get caught off guard. They paused at the joining of the cars, unsure as to whether they should pass through, Star nodded and Steve headed through first looking out for danger in the next car, Star followed next leaving Bucky to bring up the rear when the doors closed on them, Steve in one car, Star in the middle of the cars and Bucky in the car they had entered from.

Bucky had to duck down as two HYDRA soldiers came out of the car that adjoined the one they had come in on and started shooting at him, Bucky was shooting back before taking cover while they all tried to pick each other off, Star was quick to move, there was no way in hell she was going to watch as Bucky was gunned down, HYDRA be damned she unsheathed her claws and sliced through the door and watched it drop with a clang, taking a couple of shots to the chest as she went over to where Bucky was covering himself with some creates.

Meanwhile Steve was fighting off one of the HYRDA soldiers that used twin cannon pulse guns made of the same blue light that could make a person vaporize, he quickly ducked down behind some creates, Steve was having a tough time of taking out the soldier he was facing because of the guns and armour he had on.

"Are you ready?" Star questioned as she was shot at again, she was not really a gun person, even in her time she rarely used one, she was an up close and personal kind of fighter.

"Yeah." Bucky responded as he moved from his position ducking around Star and shooting at one of the soldiers taking them down and ducking behind another lot of creates with Star moving to cover him again, she was his armour for this fight now. Bucky changed his magazine as another guard came into the area and down the opposite side and he shot around Star, not moving too far from his hiding spot.

Once they had gotten Zola, Star was going to have to make sure that the train was destroyed, there was no way in hell she was going to let anyone get their hands on her blood and use it for nefarious reasons.

Steve was finally able to move into a position where he could take out the soldier shooting at him and by using the small crane attached to the roof of the train car and used it to knock the soldier down before knocking him out with his shield and heading back to where he could see that Bucky was now down to his hand gun and still had two enemies in front of him, Star couldn't go anywhere as she was using herself as a shield, if she went one way to take out one of the soldiers there was a possibility that the other could take out Bucky first, so she wasn't going to move and risk losing the man she loved.

Bucky shot out as he moved back over to the other side of the car and Steve shot out his closed door with the soldiers weapon and headed quickly down to join Star and Bucky. Bucky had just ran out of ammo as Steve got to the door and didn't have any more magazines, Steve quickly pulled out his side arm, checked it, got Bucky's attention and threw it to his best friend so he had a way to defend himself.

Steve rushed into the room, shield raised as he rammed one of the boxes causing it to slid toward the soldier to move from where he was standing and right into the oncoming bullet from Bucky's gun the three could finally take a second to get their breath back before continuing on with their mission.

"I had him on the ropes." Bucky spoke up as he walked over to Steve.

"I know you did." Steve said in response when the soldier with the cannons appeared at the other door with his cannons raised, "Get down!" He said as he raised his shield, pushing Bucky to the side as the blast hit his shield blasting a hole in the side of the car, Star let out a cry of pain as some of the blast hit one of her arms right down to the silver sheen of her bones.

Bucky got himself up picking up Steve's shield as he did and fired his gun at the soldier and with another blast from the cannons it hit the shield sending Bucky out the side of the train and he latched onto one of the left over rails, "NO!" Star screamed moving over and out of the train with Steve right behind her after throwing his shield at the soldier and knocking him down, despite her injury she pushed the pressure points in her hand to make the claws come out so that they could secure her so that she could use her other hand to grab at Bucky so he had something secure to hold onto, Steve grabbed at her feet and the doorway so that there was more reach for them and so that he could pull them both back in, Steve manoeuvred so that he was standing on the blasted away wall of the car to reach Bucky easier, his grip bruisingly tight on Star's ankle, not that she noticed the tight grip.

Star held onto Bucky's hand tightly, "Hang on please baby." She begged and could feel his grip tighten a little more, "Pull us back Steve." She called out over her shoulder and Steve started to pull them back onto the train as quickly as he could, Star let out a cry of pain as her claws were pulled out from the metal causing Steve to stop in concern, "Don't stop." She told him as she cradled her hurt arm to her chest while she held on tightly to Bucky, she was not happy that those HYDRA weapons did so much damage to her and slowed down her healing those wounds.

Bucky was looking at his girl in concern now, the fear had dissipated at her cry of pain, "Stop doll." He said to her firmly, "Just let me go."

Tears were streaming down Star's cheeks, "No way in hell James Buchanan Barns, you are NOT leaving me, I am NOT letting go of you." She told him firmly, no matter how much pain she was in at that present moment in time there was no way she was letting go of the man she loved, there was no way in hell she was letting him die. With effort she pulled him closer while Steve was trying to pull them back into the train at the same time.

"Just hold on!" Steve called out under the slight strain of the heavier body of Star and then Bucky on top of that, he could lift a lot, but when they were going at a full speed and gravity took over making it worse.

Bucky brought his free hand up to his neck and pulled off his dog tags, he had a second set made so he could give one set to Star, put them around her neck and brought her into a kiss when he was close enough, "I love you Starlyn." He said softly, she barely heard him over the howling winds but heard him all the same, "I love you too." She responded and he kissed her again and in seconds there was nothing but air in front of her and Bucky was no longer in her grip, he had somehow slipped out of her tight grip, "NOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as she watched him fall in to the ravine below.

Steve just watched in stunned shock as his best friend fell, somehow getting out of Star's grip that shouldn't have been possible, with one giant, grief stricken pull they were both back in the train car and Star was sobbing into Steve's chest. Steve had to wrap himself around her as she tried to jump out of the train a few times to follow Bucky down so that at least they would have a body to bury and return to his family. She would survive the fall, that was for sure, but then they would have the issue of going back for the pair and getting to them before the enemy did.

Meanwhile Gabe headed to the front of the car, he had just witnessed what had happened and knew that Cap and Star wouldn't be in the right state of mind to take Zola into custody, they would probably kill him in retribution for loosing Bucky. He jumped through the window startling the driver and Zola, his weapon was raised and the look on his face was daring them to do something that warranted getting shot.

Gabe had the driver head to their new destination where the others would be waiting for them with a force of men to make sure that nothing happened in between the train and getting Zola back to headquarters. Star and Steve hadn't moved from where they were grieving, by now Star had gone quiet and was just staring blankly into space while Steve wasn't any better. They had arrived at H.Q and everyone seemed stumped to see the pair of patriots in such a state but Gabe quickly explained, to those that needed to know, what had happened and why they were pretty much catatonic.

The Commandos moved into the train car and with the effort of them all they managed to get Steve and Star moving from the train and into the privacy of the building and left the pair to continue grieving together while Gabe told the officials what he could of what had happened, there was no way of getting it out of Steve and Star at that moment of time. The Commandos warned the officials that if they wanted to try they would probably end up with some severe wounds in response, if not dead.

* * *

Phillips walked down the corridor with a tray in his hands, he was taking some steak to Zola to see if that would entice the man to talk, if not he had other ways of trying to get the man to say what they need for him to say. Phillips nodded to the MP standing at the door and walked into the room and saw Zola looking around the room, startled Zola turned to Phillips and watched as the Phillips placed the tray down, "Sit down." Phillips told him.

Zola cautiously sat down and looked at the tray that was in front of him, "What is this?" Zola questioned.

"Steak." Phillips told him.

"What is in it?"

"Cow." Phillips said as he sat down across from Zola, "Doctor, do you realise how difficult it is to get a hold of a prime cut like that out here?"

"I don't eat meat." Zola said with a shrug.

"Why not?"

"It disagrees with me." Zola told Phillips.

"How about cyanide? Does that give you a rumbly tummy too?" Zola just gave a bland smile in response, "Every HYDRA agent that we've tried to take alive has crushed a little pill before we can stop him." Phillips explained as he was cutting into the steak, "But not you. So here is my brilliant theory." He said taking a bite of the meat, "You want to live."

"You're trying to intimidate me, Colonel."

"I brought you dinner. If I was going to intimidate you I wouldn't have brought you dinner and if I was going to kill you then I would have sent in the Rogers'." Phillips said and moved the paper that he had carried into the room over to Zola where he could read what it said.

"Given the valuable information that he has provided and in exchange for his full cooperation, Dr. Zola is being remanded to Switzerland." Zola read out aloud.

"I sent that message to Washington this morning." Phillips explained as he seasoned the meat, "Of course it was encoded." He had a potato on his fork, "You guys haven't broken those codes, have you? Cause that would be awkward."

"Schmidt would know that this is a lie." Zola said with confidence.

"He's going to kill you anyway, Doc." Phillips said bluntly, "You're a liability. You know more about Schmidt than anyone and the last guy you cost us was Captain Rogers' best friend and his sister's boyfriend, neither one of them would be there to lend a hand, you wouldn't get the best protection." Phillips explained, "It's you or Schmidt and 1st Lieutenant Rogers would have no problem taking you out if she can't have Schmidt."

Zola was thoughtful for a moment, "Schmidt believes that he walks in the footsteps of the Gods. Only the world itself will satisfy him now."

"You do realise that's nuts, don't you?"

"What? The sanity of the plan is of no consequence."

"And why is that?" Phillips wondered.

"Because he can do it!" Zola stated firmly and with conviction.

"What's his target?"

"His target… is everywhere." Zola revealed and Phillips had a hard time not reacting and racing out of the room, he still needed to know Schmidt's location.

"Then it would be in your best interest to tell us where Schmidt is before 1st Lieutenant Rogers makes her way down here."

"And what can one woman do?" Zola scoffed, he had been watching Steve, not what Star had been doing to help out Bucky.

"She's a woman of many surprises." Phillips responded.

* * *

Starlyn stared blankly ahead, she couldn't feel anything she was completely numb as she sat on Steve's bunk. She hadn't even changed out of her Liberty uniform and Steve had left a little while ago much in the same state as she was but he had changed out of his Cap uniform. Bucky was gone, her Bucky was gone, he had slipped literally through her fingers, her grip on him had loosened slightly when he told her he loved her and he took advantage of that so that Star would be safe.

"Ma'am." A voice came from the door but she didn't move, "Colonel Phillips has requested your presence in interrogating Dr. Zola."

Starlyn moved on autopilot as she followed the MP to where Zola was being held and headed in once the door was opened, "Colonel." She said in a bland voice and saluted the man half-heartedly.

"1st Lieutenant." Phillips responded with a salute, "We need your help in getting Zola to cooperate with us." He explained, "You may do what you wish to get the answers we need but try your best to leave him breathing and able to talk." He said and left the room.

Star looked blankly over at where Zola was sitting and the man flinched at her look and she moved toward him and finally ended up next to him, looking down on the sitting man, "You took something from me, it'd be best if you talk." She said in a dead tone.

"There is nothing that you can do to me that will get me to tell you what you want to know." Zola said confidently.

Star grabbed Zola by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him up so that he was now above her and with little effort threw him at the wall behind him before she moved over, picked him up and threw him down on the stretcher that was in the room, "Talk." Was all she said but he still said nothing so she went to the door and knocked on it and spoke with the MP and a few minutes later she was being handed a bag, Zola hadn't moved from where she had put him, there was a little fear in his eyes from her show of brute strength, he didn't expect a woman to hold so much strength, "Talk." She said again but he shook his head, he'd be dead either way.

Starlyn unrolled the bag, the clinking of tools sounding out in the small room and she grabbed the pliers from their pouch and turned back to Zola and took his hand and ripped out all of the fingernails on one hand. Zola cried out in pain at the action, never did he think that a woman would do something like she was doing, would have the gumption or the stomach to do what she was doing, "I learnt to torture people for information a long time ago." She told him when she saw his look, her voice monotone, "It's what I was originally trained for." She said as she finished off the other hand, taking the fingernails, "I also know how the body works due to my medical background, helps in getting information with minimal blood loss but maximum pain. You'd be surprised at how quick some would talk when needles are involved in getting information."

Starlyn hummed as she worked, she was going slowly and since Phillips had left behind the salt she made sure to make liberal use of that too, "How does it feel to be the experiment?" She questioned, "After all you did something to Sargent Barnes while he was being held captive and now you are responsible for his death. Captain America and I take that rather personally." Still Zola said nothing though she could tell she had gotten to him a while ago but he was being stubborn, "There is one thing I could do I suppose and it would hurt an awful lot." She mused as she picked up two metal spikes and showed them to Zola, "I could slam these into the femur of each leg and then attach them to a car battery, electrocuting you from the inside, right through your bones."

Zola looked horrified at the thought, "The Alps, Schmidt is in the Alps but there is nothing you can do, he will be taking off within the next 26 hours." He finally released, "But you will not win, development has already finished."

Starlyn put down the spikes and wrapped up her kit and headed for the door, "Get Phillips and I suppose that you should get him a medic." She said and left the room to return to hers and continue to mourn.


End file.
